Trump's CPAC Hangover

By Hubie and Bertie

Had you asked us last night, we cats would have predicted a low of 65 percent to a high of 80 percent for Benedict Donald in today's CPAC Presidential straw poll.

So it's a little shocking that he only got 55.

That is, he got 55 percent in the straw poll that included his name. Because they held two polls, one with, one without, and two very unappealing people came in first and second in the latter one. It's a chilling reminder that if this nation is ever foolish enough to elect a Republican President again, that Republican is going to be worse than Trump. Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem are each responsible for thousands of COVID deaths — which may be to their advantage in a party that seems to value killing your own constituents. (P.S.: Former VP Mike Pence polled at 1 percent — BWWAAAAHAHAHAHA!)

To add insult to Donald's injury, only 68 percent of CPACkers said they wanted him to run again. Did somebody leak these results to Trump before he started out for the Hyatt? Because he was over an hour late, and it's easy to picture him throwing a tantrum and refusing to go. You also have to wonder because his speech was a shade on the, shall we say, "low-energy" side. Like his heart wasn't in it.

So we cats don't understand what all the Trump worship was about these last few days, if CPAC 2021 is ready to move on. Benedict Donald isn't polling much better with "his" crowd than he is with a broader GOP sampling. The only question left is whom he'll blame for today's sorry performance. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: People thought this CPAC stage design looked like a symbol that a Nazi SS unit used. We see the resemblance, in more ways than one.)

False Gods

By Miss Kubelik

Can the Republican Party go ahead and destroy itself already? Because America is starting to get worried. It's unclear how the country can move forward with one of its major political parties devolving into a Nazi-ish personality cult.

On the one hand, we cats like the idea that Republicans who join forces with the crazies will lose elections and further marginalize themselves. On the other hand, if we Democrats don't message correctly, voters won't understand that the GOP is the party that wants people to remain poor, sick and probably dead. Why else would all the Republican members of the House vote against the COVID-relief bill?

Our one comfort is that Team Biden appears to know that they have to go big on a wide range of issues — not just the pandemic. After all, we Democrats are one fatal COVID case away from losing the majority in the Senate. And Biden learned from the Obama Administration to go badass when they can. We're also reassured by the strong start they've had coming out of the gate. Five weeks of competence can make a world of difference, can't it?

Still, there's that crazy cult lurking out there. The insistence on the fantasy that the 2020 election was stolen is a cancer at the heart of democracy. The question is, will it grow? We cats worry, and we HISS.

The GOP, Cowed

By Zamboni

Come CPAC time, we cats are always torn between making fun of them and refusing to give them more attention. But even this year, when they've clearly leaned big-time into The Crazy, we can't resist a few observations.

First, about Ted Cruz: What a sorry spectacle he was today. We're the first to admit we weren't watching, but from what we hear, he bombed — #TedCruzIsaJoke was trending on Twitter at one point. His lame Cancun quips were greeted by silence. And his Braveheart scream? Wow, how embarrassing. (On top of all that, he's fat! Check out video of him from 2016 if you don't believe us.)

Our theory is that if Benedict Donald does not run in 2024 — and the reasons for that are many — Ted Cruz will be one of the first Alternate Trumps to fall. You heard it here first.

And the Golden Trump? Wow. It's hard to imagine how evangelical ministers are going to spin that Bob's-Big-Boy-Benedict-Donald sculpture in their sermons this Sunday. Our guess is that they'll probably ignore it: It hits too close to the biblical home. But for the first time, we're kinda regretting that Charlton Heston isn't around to weigh in on this.

Let's just say that a dangerous new variant of the coronavirus has emerged in Florida, and its name is CPAC-CoV-21. Wear your masks, folks, because this virus is fatal. We cats HISS.

This Banner Is Flying Over CPAC In Orlando

Well done, anti-DeSantis Floridians, well done. We cats PURR.

It's A Process Thing

By Baxter

Now, this is very Inside Baseball. But we cats are having a hard time seeing a downside to the Senate Parliamentarian putting the kibosh on the $15 minimum wage — despite certain journalists casting it as "a big loss for Democrats." 

Whut? It's not like we tried to pass a damn bill and failed.

We were on the cusp of a big fight over including the minimum wage in President Biden's COVID relief legislation, and the talking heads were simply salivating over Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema balking because of it. You could see the headlines already: "Dems in Disarray!" 

(Seems like the Republicans are in that very state right now. Why doesn't the press write "disarray" crap about them? It is the lack of alliteration?)

Anyway, now all that Manchin-Sinema stuff can be avoided, and the Democrats in the Senate can still bring up the minimum wage in a separate bill and make heartless Republicans vote against it. They'll already have to go on record against the COVID bill — without their minimum wage excuse. So now there could be two potential pieces of wildly popular legislation that the GOP will be on the wrong side of.

Sounds good to us. And it just might be okay with Joe Biden, too — for now — because he understands the Senate, and knows it could all come out in the wash. We cats PURR.

MTG Doesn't Work And Play Well With Others

By Sniffles

Was Marjorie Taylor Greene a "difficult" child in school? Did she have any friends on the playground? Did she get picked for volleyball in gym class? All signs are pointing toward: No.

First there was a report about Greene haranguing Representative Cori Bush in the hallway about wearing masks. (Greene's against them, but Nancy Pelosi has forced her to comply.) Bush was alarmed enough about the encounter that she asked to have her offices moved "for the safety of my team," she said. (Good luck with that, by the way — Congressional office space, especially for freshmen, is at a premium.)

Now there's more of a feel-good story about another Greene neighbor: Representative Marie Newman of Illinois. Newman put a transgender rights flag on display outside her office door — which is right across the hall — after Greene gave an inflammatory speech slamming the Equality Act as "disgusting, immoral and evil" for protecting trans and other LGBT people from discrimination.

"Thought we’d put up our transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door," Newman tweeted.

Poor Marjorie! At this rate, nobody is going to sit with her in the cafeteria or on the school bus. Which may be for the better, since it's been revealed that a close associate of hers helped the Trump mob storm the Capitol on January 6. With investigations of the insurrection cranking up, more dirt on Greene is sure to come out. Will she even make it through her first term? We cats HISS.

UPDATE: You may already know that Greene hung an anti-trans sign outside her door as a response, and that the Face Thing has let her post about it stay up while labeling Newman's as "hate speech." Mark Zuckerberg truly is competing with Donald Trump for the title of Worst Person Who's Ever Lived, isn't he? We cats HISS again.

March Pains

By Hubie and Bertie

The Q crazies keep moving the goalposts. When the January 6 insurrection didn't stop Congressional certification of the Electoral College, they fixated on January 20, which they thought would bring arrests of Joe Biden and the Democrats and the second glorious swearing-in of Benedict Donald.

Instead, Trump took off in Marine One for one last ride to Joint Base Andrews, gave a desultory (as always) speech, and left for Florida. Pretty deflating for his devoted fans. But then, as we all know, Trump doesn't care about anyone except himself.

Now, they're convinced that something weird and wonderful is going to happen on March 4, which until 1937 used to be Inauguration Day. They believe it will bring the second coming of Trump.

It's all very strange. Something about the United States really being a corporation, and the gold standard, and how all Presidents since Ulysses S. Grant are illegitimate (but wouldn't that make Trump illegitimate, too?). It is nuttiness in the extreme.

What bothers us is that today, the US Marshals Service, a DOJ agency, posted a cryptic tweet: "On February 23, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln quietly slipped into Washington, DC to prepare for his inauguration on March 4. Accompanying him was US Marshal Ward Hill Lamon (D/DC), a friend and former law partner." It seems odd to normal people — but the Q kooks are over the moon.

Thankfully, Merrick Garland should be Attorney General by then, so we leave this in his capable hands. The Trump hotel in Washington, however — never one to miss an opportunity to gouge — has jacked up its prices for next week. We cats HISS.

Yes, JFK Was Cool, But...

Speaking of Presidents past, this poster was on display in our optometrist's eyeglass studio the other day. (You know, the place they send you to buy expensive new frames after they've blinded you with dilation drops?) Apparently enough years have passed after the shock of Jack Kennedy's assassination that he can be used to sell sunglasses now. We love the photo — but we don't approve. We cats HISS.

This Blog Is Going To The Dogs

By Miss Kubelik

Much as we hate to say it, dogs are in the news today. It wasn't bad enough that Rafael Cruz jetted off to Cancun while Texans were expiring from hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning — he left his dog behind, alone in a freezing house. Sign us up for the Save Snowflake campaign! That canine needs a new home.

The other dog story concerns new White House resident Champ Biden. Champ is a German shepherd who, in dog years, is in his mid-eighties. The Bidens adopted Major, who is much younger, to keep Champ on his toes. But now the right-wing nutcases over at Newsmax have decided Champ is no champ at all. "He looks like he's from the junkyard," said one of their silly hosts.

Is this all they've got? President Biden's approval level is at around 62 percent, so apparently there's nothing left to do but go after his dog. What's going to happen when the Bidens get their cat?

We hope that Joe Biden channels his inner FDR and has some fun with this pathetic nonsense. Here's the Fala speech from the 1944 campaign to inspire him. It doesn't matter how many times we've seen it — we laugh every time. We cats PURR.

Who Cares? (We Do)

By Zamboni

We're all still having a good time roasting Rafael "Ted" Cruz over his trip to Cancun while Texans froze and died. But laughs aside, the situation in the Lone Star State is far from funny. It's heartbreaking to read about families burning furniture to keep warm, or freezing or being gassed to death in their own homes. But folks, this is Republican America: a place where it's better to kill people than to allow government to regulate anything. Remember that the next time you head to the ballot box.

Meanwhile, California, the state that Republicans like Cruz love to trash, sent water to thirsty Texans. Beto O'Rourke has done more for the state as a private citizen than Cruz as done as their Senator. While Cruz was jetting off to Cancun, Beto was all over Zoom and social media, connecting people with resources for help. And New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pitched in, bigly — she's raised more than $2 million for Texan relief organizations.

In other words, "Good-at-Stuff-America" is putting its nose to the grindstone to help the state that voted for Cruz and Benedict Donald. Because people who are good at stuff, unlike the party of Trump, care about their fellow Americans.

That's our bumper sticker for 2022 and beyond: Democrats have your back. The GOP is good at fake populism, but they couldn't give a damn about regular working people whose apartments are flooded and ruined by burst, frozen pipes. Joe Biden activated FEMA to help suffering Texans, many of whom didn't even vote for him. Because that's what a President does. We cats PURR.

Spawn Of Rush

By Baxter

With famous people dying at advanced ages — George Shultz at 100, Friendly's founder Prestley Blake at 106 — losing the walking obscenity that was Rush Limbaugh at just 70 seems like a case of the Bad Die Young. Nevertheless, as Clarence Darrow once said, "I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction."

There's really no other way to feel about the news that the big fat idiot no longer walks among us. But sadly, others do, and they carry on the cause of appealing to the worst in us. Or, rather, to the worst in aggrieved white males who feel power slipping away from them. You can draw a straight line from Limbaugh and his abuse of Chelsea Clinton (and her parents) in the 1990s to Tucker Carlson's ridiculous rant about the Biden marriage today.

Obviously, Rupert Murdoch played a big role in this, too. And still does. Benedict Donald was on Sean Hannity's show (and numerous others) yesterday, ostensibly to eulogize Limbaugh but mainly, seeing as he's Twitter-less, to repeat the Big Lie.

The problem for the Limbaugh-Gingrich-Trump-Hawley-Taylor-Greene far right is that all they have is insults and slander. It's worked very well for them for decades, but after the Capitol insurrection maybe not so much. We can fight back with the truth (and with lawsuits). Since the GOP is captive to the crazies, it might be something for the party to ponder. Ted Cruz, for example, might give it some thought as he lolls on the beach at Cancun. We cats HISS.

Suits Us!

By Sniffles

If you were hoping that Benedict Donald's (extremely lopsided-and-bipartisan-on-the-side-of-"guilty") impeachment acquittal would lead to wronged parties dragging his giant butt into court, it looks like that's starting to happen.

The NAACP has filed a federal lawsuit against Trump and Rudy Giuliani, accusing them of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in attempting to prevent certification of the election. The suit also names the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys — you know, the guys who fly that "Blue Lives Matter" flag while they beat, kill and maim police officers?

While it's not quite an impeachment conviction, it's pretty great, and we hope more lawsuits will follow. Benedict Donald is allegedly more worried about civil and criminal cases, like this one and the one in Georgia, than he was about impeachment. And there are plenty of folks who could join the party: the families of Officer Brian Sicknick or any of the injured cops, Capitol Hill staffers who were traumatized by the event, and on and on.

Nevertheless, it would have been nice if the Constitutional remedies for such Presidential misconduct had been allowed to work. But the current state of the GOP makes that impossible. It's also worrisome for the future of the country: How can we function if one of the two major political parties no longer believes in democracy?

Back when Trump started making noises about not accepting the election results, lots of pundits were quoting Benjamin Franklin's famous riposte: "A republic, Madam, if you can keep it." But another Founder, John Adams, weighed in on that subject, too:

"Posterity!" he wrote. "You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."

Hoping Adams is not yet repenting, we cats PURR.

IMAGE: Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

Office Mates

How nice to have the Bidens in the White House. And pets, too! But we have one question for POTUS and FLOTUS: Where is the cat?

IMAGE: Champ and Major: First Dogs, by Joy McCullough

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Guilty, Guilty, Guilty Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

Yes, we know that Benedict Donald was just acquitted, but get this: It's the most bipartisan guilty vote in impeachment history, and the 57 Senators who voted that way represent two-thirds of the American people. Neat! Here are a few other observations.

We don't know what happened to that prepared acquittal statement that Bill Cassidy was spotted with yesterday, but apparently he ripped it up and tossed it in the trash. He should have saved it for a museum exhibit of historical oddities (you know, like McGovern-Eagleton buttons).

Looks like for the next four years, if the Republicans piss him off — which they're sure to do — Joe Biden now has the right to send a mob to storm Capitol Hill. That is, assuming he uses the word "peaceful" once.

(Hahahaha, Joe Biden wouldn't really do that. We think.)

It's perfectly fine that the House managers decided in the end against calling witnesses. That was today's version of how they handled the Mike Lee dust-up the other night: avoiding a drawn-out partisan sideshow that would have overwhelmed the ultimate result, both in history and in the headlines. Besides, Congresswoman Beutler Herrera's statement got entered into the record, and, impossible as it may seem, Kevin McCarthy looks even worse than before.

Isn't it fabulous that Trump is off Twitter? He must be steaming — especially since Mitch McConnell just got up and said that the House managers had proven the case.

Finally, speaking of the House managers, we're busily thumbing through our thesauruses (even though we don't have thumbs), looking for synonyms for the word "magnificent." Stacey, Eric, Joe, Diana, David, Joaquin, Ted, Madeleine, and especially, Jamie — you guys are catnip, tuna and tasty mice, rolled up into one. We cats PURR.

The Greatness Of Lincoln

By Miss Kubelik

We understand that The Lincoln Project is going through some upheaval. John Weaver has been accused of seducing underage boys, and the lone woman founder has departed in a huff. While the rest of the drama seems a little fuzzy, Steve Schmidt has announced that he's taking a sabbatical to deal with depression. Goodness gracious.

In our book, though, no matter how many travails the Lincoln Lads endure, their existence is justified many times over by this single ad — which they created in the wake of Benedict Donald's disastrous June 2020 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It still makes us laugh out loud, and Team Lincoln should get some sort of award for it. We cats PURR.

All You Need Is Love

 

Lots of action on Capitol Hill today, but we cats have the same feeling we had when we were standing in line to vote last fall: We need to get Benedict Donald out of our lives. (All nine of them.) So instead of dwelling on the fact that the Republicans are sure to let Trump off scot-free, we're choosing to focus on Jill Biden's uplifting messages for Valentine's Day. We cats PURR.

Initial Thoughts

By Zamboni

As you can tell, we're still feet-in-the-air from yesterday's masterful presentation by the House impeachment managers. But we have some thoughts that we can share before we see what today brings.

It's suddenly become clear that the Democratic Party has an abundance of fearless, brilliant Black women named Stacey. This makes us proud.

Claire McCaskill had to compose herself for a few minutes before she could discuss the day's events with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC — completely understandable. The idea that Capitol Hill and DC cops were fighting with those Trump savages for hours is overwhelming, and Team Raskin made that very clear. However, not to quibble, but we would have preferred a bit more of (*sigh!*) MPDC hunk Michael Fanone.

Quick aside: It's Infrastructure Day at the White House!

Is there any doubt that had Officer Eugene Goodman not directed Mitt Romney away, the Trump mob would have killed him? Reminder that Willard was the Republicans' 2012 nominee. Additional reminder that the Trumpsters, as we know from the years we monitored them on Free Republic, have always hated him. He would have been dead.

Now we want to know what else happened — specifically, with the Trumpster lackeys who were installed at the Pentagon and who apparently refused to deploy the National Guard. (Remember that DC is not a state.) Ditto on any House members who toured the rioters around the complex the day before. Ditto ditto the Senators who delayed the certification (Hawley), or who received calls from Trump (Tuberville and, yes, Lee), or who are just assholes (Cruz). The House managers probably won't focus on their complicit colleagues, but they can tee up the questions for those who, in the coming days, will. We cats PURR.

Wiped Out

We cats have been watching the House managers' impeachment presentations all day, and we're exhausted. Or emotionally wrung out. Or both. So we'll opine more on Benedict Donald's treachery tomorrow, when we've had time to recover from harrowing security footage, scary police dispatch audio, and heartbreaking references to United 93. Good job, Team Raskin. We cats PURR.

The Price Of January 6

By Baxter

Even if the Senate acquits Benedict Donald in his second impeachment trial, Jamie Raskin is going to make sure that no other President does what Trump did again.

Team Raskin was brilliant, not just with the disturbing 13-minute video they showed of the Trump riot but also with the Raskin family's experience of it. "Dad, I don't want to come back to the Capitol," his adult daughter told him. That, America, is what we've lost.

Who knows if any future autocrat or despot will be swayed by the condemnation of history? It seems like a weak deterrent for somebody bent on total power. But in the meantime, the House impeachment managers' goal is clear: Trump must be a pariah for all time.

We might have to settle for that — but maybe not. Maybe there's another Bill Cassidy out there. Maybe an injured police officer's family will sue. Maybe the state of Georgia will charge Trump with election tampering. There can be a number of paths to justice. We cats PURR.

One Less Republican Dick

By Sniffles

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) is retiring in 2022. No big surprise. The former Democrat is 86 years old, and he's been in Congress forever — and no, we won't win the seat.

But before you move on, think about this:

The Republicans now have to add one more expensive Senate primary to the schedule — one more that will suck money out of their efforts in the general election. Shelby has joined Richard Burr of North Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio on the list of Senate quitters. And maybe a seat will come open in Iowa too, if Old Farmer Grassley puts himself out to pasture. (He's 87.)

There also could be surprises: Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, for instance. Or Roy Blunt in Missouri. With the GOP in tatters, you never know when these guys will decide they've had enough.

Meanwhile, the doctrine of Allocation of Scarce Resources Among Competing Choices still applies: Every dollar that the Republicans have to spend in Alabama in 2022 will be a dollar they can't spend against Raphael Warnock in Georgia or Mark Kelly in Arizona. We cats PURR.

Amanda Is Super

Today we honor our three captains for their actions and impact in a time of uncertainty and need.

They've taken the lead, exceeding all expectations and limitations, uplifting their communities and neighbors as leaders, healers and educators.

James has felt the wounds of warfare but this warrior still shares his home with at-risk kids. During COVID he's even lent a hand, live-streaming football for family and fans.

Trimaine is an educator who works nonstop, providing his communities with hot spots, laptops and tech workshops so his students have all the tools they need to succeed in life and in school.

Suzie is the ICU nurse manager at a Tampa hospital. Her chronicles prove that even in tragedy, hope is possible. She lost her grandmothers to the pandemic and fights to save other lives in the ICU battle zone, defining the frontline heroes risking their lives for our own.

Let us walk with these warriors, charge on with these champions and carry forth the call of our captains.

We celebrate them by acting with courage and compassion, by doing what is right and just, for while we honor them today, it is they who every day honor us. 

—Amanda Gorman

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Ronald Reagan Birthday Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

Think that politics are disgusting these days? Take it from us, it all started going downhill with Ronald Reagan.  The guy kicked off his 1980 Presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a wink and a nod to the folks we now call Trumpsters, QAnons and white supremacists. (A trio of 1964 Freedom Riders were murdered there.) For a more complete discussion of Reagan's many perfidies, click here.

But we won't dwell on Ronnie beyond wishing him a happy (dead) 110th birthday. Here are a few other thoughts that are occupying us this afternoon.

Is there anything more ironic than a pro-life Republican busted for child porn?

Why do we think that Jamie Raskin and the House managers are going to share this graphic of January 6 smartphone locations at Benedict Donald's impeachment trial this week? It's like watching a swarm of locusts move from the Ellipse to Capitol Hill. Amazing!

It's also fun (and disgusting) that the right wingers pushing Trump's Big Lie only care about money. They're good with destroying our democratic system, but when it comes to losing billions from a voting-machine lawsuit, they instantly fold. Exhibit A: FOX "News" canning Lou Dobbs last night. Now that's a cancel culture we can get behind.

Finally, two members of the League of Women Voters pushed back on our recent op-ed (actually it was more of a "top"-ed) in the Albany Times-Union about the need to redistrict Elise Stefanik for her vote to cancel 81 million votes. Apparently, redistricting is not nice. We cats say, tough. The Republicans abandoned their oaths to the Constitution and voted to overturn a fair election. This is war. We cats HISS.

Okay, One Last Plummer Post

We know he disparaged The Sound of Music — but we still love the symbolism of a privileged man who hated the Nazis and loved his country enough to sing about its national flower. Christopher Plummer probably had no idea how, as Captain von Trapp, he taught audiences to cherish their values above messages of hate. It was very much in the spirit of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and we could all use a little bit of it today. We cats PURR.

Operation Badass

By Miss Kubelik

While the Republicans — led by the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene — are busy being offensive, Democrats are spending their time on the offense. And boy, does it feel great.

Ever since Joe Biden was sworn in a little over two weeks ago, it's been full steam ahead. The Administration is in a real take-no-prisoners, give-no-quarter, "don't-make-me-stop-this-car" mood — blazing trails while they can, the rest of the world be damned. The GOP is left blinking in bewilderment. They shouldn't be — 20 years ago, they acted like they had a huge mandate when their guy "won" by only 537 votes in Florida, so any surprise they're experiencing now is, to say the least, ridiculous.

Biden is going big on COVID relief. He parlayed with the Collins-Romney caucus for two hours, and then pushed ahead instead of spending the next 12 months getting jerked around until he gets no deal in the end. And the White House is messaging that the $1.9 trillion package is bipartisan, because Americans of every political persuasion support it. Very he-coon-like. We approve.

But that's not all, folks. Biden's executive orders have reversed Trump travesties from the environment to trade, national security and gender and racial equality. Over in the House, Jamie Raskin is playing hardball on next week's impeachment trial. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is demanding that the military flush out their white supremacists, just as the Trumpsters are being sacked throughout the government. And most delicious of all, Team Biden denied a last-ditch request from Trump appointees for parental leave. Sorry, guys: As we cats know from experience, when your President loses his job, so do you — and your benefits, too.

And now Biden has flown to Delaware for the weekend — to grab a few hours of relaxation with family now that the House has passed his budget plan. When a reporter asked Jen Psaki about the safety of the trip, she smacked him down. Courteously, of course.

All of this is long overdue. The GOP's scorched-earth tactics have been running roughshod over us for a long time, and we were too timid to retaliate. Now, with the slimmest of majorities in Congress but more than 81 million general-election votes behind us, we Democrats are busting ass and busting chops. And it's beautiful to see. We cats PURR.

Christopher Plummer Climbs The Last Mountain

<iframe src="https://gifer.com/embed/7lY3" width=480 height=316.202 frameBorder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://gifer.com">via GIFER</a></p> <iframe src="https://gifer.com/embed/7lY3" width=480 height=316.202 frameBorder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://gifer.com">via GIFER</a></p><iframe src="https://gifer.com/embed/7lY3" width=480 height=316.202 frameBorder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://gifer.com">via GIFER</a></p>

This is not an entertainment blog, but a few words about Christopher Plummer are necessary.

When you see movies in kittenhood, you tend to confuse actors with their roles — and even more so when a film is as magical as The Sound of Music. Then later, you realize that the leading man in that movie had nothing but bad things to say about it. It's disappointing, because the criticism is unfair. (SOM is not saccharine, not with director Robert Wise at the helm, and certainly not with Eleanor Parker's immortal "harmonica" line.) And it's maddening because you know that Plummer's subsequent career owed everything to that movie.

Besides, he tore up that Nazi flag so well.

But since he preferred to be known for what he was — a Shakespearean actor — we'll take a moment to appreciate a very Plummeresque in-joke that he delivered in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. You can't appreciate the Bard, his character declared, until you've read him in the original Klingon. We cats PURR.

The Greene Party

By Zamboni

Remember the good old days of John Boehner, another hapless Republican leader who was railroaded by the extremists in his party? If Boehner tried to pass legislation and got one Democrat to cross over and support it, he would tout it as a wildly bipartisan vote. 

Which means that today's vote to boot Marjorie Taylor Greene off her Congressional committees was off-the-charts, super-duper bipartisan, with 11 GOP members joining in the fun. 

On the other hand, you could flip that around and say that because 199 House Republicans voted "nay," we Democrats will be able to hang the QAnon lady around the neck of the GOP for gleeful months and years to come. The advertising geniuses must already be hard at work.

Greene's ridiculous internet screeds about Jewish space lasers, George Soros, missing 9/11 planes, and Democrats eating babies aren't the only videos that should make it into those ads. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer gave a particularly powerful speech on the floor this afternoon that offered up some potent soundbites. He shamed Republicans for their cowardice by reminding the world that the "Squad," whom Greene had targeted with thinly veiled threats during her 2020 campaign, were moms, public servants and human beings.

Kevin McCarthy probably believes that last night's Cheney vote and today's Greene vote were wins for him: Liz survived, and the Democrats did his dirty work for him on Madam Q. But although Greene won't be stirring up trouble on the Education & Labor Committee, she's not going anywhere any time soon. It's just the latest instance of the GOP and its so-called leaders failing the moral test of how much hate and treason they'll tolerate. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Randy Channels Barbra

In case you thought Randy Rainbow would run out of material with Benedict Donald out of the White House, never fear. Republicans are working overtime to inspire him! We cats PURR.

AOC = AOK

By Baxter

When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat a veteran Democrat in her New York Congressional primary a few years back, our first reaction was one of surprise and a little dismay. "She's going to be a pain in the ass," we muttered. We were wrong.

Yes, we know cats are never wrong. So, okay, this one time.

AOC impressed us from the moment she first set foot on Capitol Hill. Instead of being a bomb thrower, she joined the team and learned the ropes. She voted for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. Most of all, she shone in committee hearings, coming prepared, asking incisive questions, and putting disingenuous (and often dishonest) witnesses on the hot seat. AOC, we cats decided, was somebody whose lap we'd definitely jump in for cuddles and purrs.

Now, she's really wowed us with her 90-minute Instagram video about the January 6 insurrection. She said she thought she was going to die at the hands of the screaming Trumpster mob. She revealed that as a survivor of sexual assault, the trauma of the riot brought back the trauma of her previous attack. And she accused her "Oh, just get over it and move on" Republican colleagues of behaving like serial abusers — a brilliant and eye-opening observation.

AOC going live on the eve of the House managers' publication of their impeachment trial brief was, in our view, no coincidence. We already know that the Democrats plan to use video to make their case against Benedict Donald next week. AOC's monologue will open the door to more January 6 victims to tell their stories between now and then. At least, we hope so. The nation needs to hear from everyone, including staff members, what it was like to hide in an office supply closet armed only with a fork. More videos, please. We cats PURR.

They Also Call It Moxie

By Sniffles

Is Joe Biden a badass? We're seeing encouraging signs.

You may remember how long Republicans made Barack Obama wait until they deigned to do something about the 2008 financial meltdown. Today, with a national emergency like COVID-19 and all its attendant destruction staring him in the face, Biden is not only not about to wait — he's taking a harder line. Tonight's Oval Office meeting with Willard Romney, Susan Collins, et. al, press secretary Jen Psaki has said, is not an invitation to cave. "[It's] not...a forum for the President to make or accept an offer. But it’s important to him that he hears this group out on their concerns, on their ideas. He’s always open to making this package stronger."

Hah! Well played, Team Biden.

Don't get us wrong: We adore Obama, but he had only been a Senator for a few years. Joe, on the other hand, was in the Senate for nearly 10 times longer. Having been around the block a few times on Capitol Hill, he knows, as the saying goes, what time it is.

But wait, there's more. Psaki told the press today that the Administration was still deciding whether to cut Benedict Donald off from post-Presidential intelligence briefings. Pundits we follow on the Twitter machine have been urging an immediate decision on that — because, they aver, the answer is an obvious "Do it!" But the White House will not be dictated to. Maybe they're going to make the decision the night before the second impeachment trial begins. Maybe they'll announce it on Friday night so it dominates the Sunday shows. Hah!

Finally, House Democrats are getting into the act. Steny Hoyer is giving Kevin McCarthy ultimatum on anti-Semitic nutjob Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene: They will boot her from her assigned committees if Republicans don't do it first. Spunky! (And unlike Lou Grant, we love spunk.) We cats PURR.