We Love NY

By Baxter

It's easy to forget with all the bad weather stories dominating the news, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues — even while Ukraine is kicking Russian butt and Vlad Pooty is resorting to sham referendums to support his annexation of Ukrainian territory.

Brrrrrr — that word, "annexation." Coincidentally, today is the 84th anniversary of the signing of the Munich agreement. Brrrrr again.

Anyway, feast your eyes on the Russian Consulate on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Sometime in the dark of last night, vandals with an artistic bent let their views be known. And that was before Vlad delivered his unhinged speech today at the Grand Kremlin Palace. (Don't miss the fact that in the middle of all the Ukraine stuff, he made a point of going after LGBTQ+ rights. Putin was clearly trying to appeal to the MAGA fools in the US, but it's equally clear that he's uncomfortable with his own masculinity... just sayin'.)

We don't know about Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson, but we're with the red paint guys. We cats PURR.

As Tim Russert Would Say: Florida Recovery, Florida Recovery, Florida Recovery

By Sniffles

Just catching up now on the horrific photos and videos coming out of Florida. Looks like Hurricane Ian's damage will dwarf the cost of Hurricane Andrew — and the 2005 hurricanes together.

And the rebuild will take... well, forever. It's not just a question of repairing infrastructure — it's building new: roads, bridges, causeways, the electrical grid (hopefully, underground), networks, etc. For commercial real estate and residential real estate.

This is on top of the "human question" — helping millions of people rebuild their lives.

How will Florida keep its economy growing? How will it keep businesses from relocating to other states? How will it get tourists to come back and spend the sales tax dollars that keep the state budget afloat? It will be a full-time job, period.

So to put the heat on the ever-repulsive Ron DeSantis, Charlie Crist needs to pledge that if elected, he will serve his entire four-year term. Not run off to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada, or any of the other vital stops on the 2024 primary calendar. He will not prep for cattle calls and debates, or spend a single day at the Iowa State Fair. Floridians deserve no less.

And then Crist needs to challenge DeSantis to make the same pledge. Again and again and again. We cats PURR.

P.S. If either Rick Scott or Baby Marco Rubio have (GURK!) 2024 Presidential ambitions, they need to resign their Senate seats for similar reasons. Although surely Val Demings will have beaten Baby Marco by then. We cats PURR again.

Size Matters

 

By Hubie and Bertie

Is it possible that the petulant brat Ron DeSantis and his MAGA minions will admit that climate change exists now? Hurricane Ian hit Florida's west coast today as such a monster, they probably should create a Category 6. How did it get so strong so fast?

"The Gulf of Mexico has been unseasonably warm this summer, according to the National Weather Service," Axios reports. "And climate change is heating the Caribbean by a little over 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) per century."

But DeSantis, unbelievably, already started whining about not talking to President Biden last night (a conversation which, actually, did take place). It reminds us of Republicans' bitching about "the border crisis" while taking no action: Trump's wall didn't get built, Mexico didn't pay for it — and as Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently pointed out, DeSantis used to be in Congress, and got nothing done on immigration while he was there. Always easier to complain about problems to score political points with angry people than to try to solve those problems, isn't it?

Somebody tell Ron it's not going to work with Ian. There's amazing video posted today that shows houses floating away in Naples and live sharks swimming up the street in Fort Myers. But just wait until the waters recede and people start realizing that they needed windstorm and flood insurance on top of their other coverage. They're in for a rude awakening — and it would be perfectly fine with us if they take it out on DeSantis at the polls in November. We cats PURR.

Things Are Getting "Ian" Worse

By Miss Kubelik

When we cats lived in Florida, we were never brazen (or foolish) enough to go without property insurance. Call us neurotic, but we had all the coverage you'd want for wind and water damage — plus we dropped a ton of money on hurricane shutters.

The hurricanes we lived through felled a lot of palm trees and tore off a few of our barrel shingles, and our house didn't flood — but if it had, we would have been good.

That was a while ago, however. Now, years later, many people are new to Florida (and hurricanes), haven't a clue what they're like, and have blown off insurance as unaffordable. Hard to blame them, but still.

With Hurricane Ian set to hit the state this week, we're all suddenly reminded that Ron DeSantis and his awful Republicans in the state legislature have done nothing to fix Florida's property and windstorm insurance crisis. In fact, the situation is continuing to go south.

"State regulators Friday asked a judge to place a property-insurance company in receivership, making it the sixth Florida property insurer declared insolvent this year amid widespread financial problems in the industry," The Miami Herald reports.

Gosh! It's so great that Florida's GOP legislature and heroic Governor would rather persecute trans kids, school teachers, and migrants legally asking for asylum — instead of solving pressing (and life-threatening) issues for their constituents. We cats HISS.

The Ledger Stone Revealed

Buckingham Palace released this photo of Queen Elizabeth's grave at Windsor today. Plus, Charles got the red boxes. So it looks like all this really happened. We hate to quote Boris Johnson on anything, but he was right to say she made us think she might be eternal. We cats PURR.

P.S.: When we visited Windsor, George VI was the only one in there. But that, as the Queen Mum once said, was a very long time ago.

Atlantic Canada Battens Down

By Zamboni

We cats are very worried about the Canadian Maritimes tonight. Hurricane Fiona is bearing down on them, with landfall expected very early tomorrow morning, and it won't be pretty.

Fiona is predicted to make landfall as the strongest storm to hit Canada ever — mostly because the oceans have warmed enough to keep it at its highest intensity in the North Atlantic. Climate skeptics, take note.

"Weather models continue to indicate that Fiona will make landfall in eastern Nova Scotia early Saturday morning and will produce very heavy rainfall, severe winds and storm surge," reports the Canadian Hurricane Centre. We cats wait and watch in hope. And in support, we PURR.

UPDATE: As it approached Nova Scotia, Fiona's pressure was down to 928 mb. "No hurricane has ever made landfall with such a low pressure north of Florida since 1851," meteorologist Craig CeeCee tweeted. "That shows how intense the storm is — truly once in a lifetime."

De Adder Du Jour

Michael de Adder pretty much sums up Benedict Donald's terrible week. The only question is whether there's a scrap of paper with Elise Stefanik's name on it lying at the bottom of the bowl. We cats PURR.

Connecticut Canary In The Coal Mine?

By Baxter

Did Mitch McConnell pull $10 million of Republican money out of the Arizona Senate race to save a GOP candidate in the Nutmeg State?

The reason we're asking: Quinnipiac University just released a poll that showed Republicans getting creamed in Connecticut, thanks to women who are furious about Roe.

"An overwhelming majority of women have abandoned the top of the Republican ticket...producing huge leads for Governor Ned Lamont and US Senator Richard Blumenthal," The CT Mirror reports. Both Democrats are ahead by 17 points. (Oh, and Trump isn't helping.)

So, this is interesting for a couple of reasons. While Leora Levy, the GOP candidate for Senate, is an off-the-wall, Trump-loving nutcase, Bob Stefanowski, running against Lamont, is pretty establishment-y — just the kind of "reasonable" candidate that Republicans used to hoodwink people into supporting. The fact that he's down by the same margin as Levy tells us one thing: The only GOP voters in Connecticut right now are hard-core extremists. Middle-of-the-roadsters and center-righters have deserted the party. There's no ticket-splitting here.

Does this Connecticut poll portend anything in New York? Vermont? Massachusetts? Maine? Rhode Island? Does this mean a blue wave will crash over New England in November?

No wonder Mitch is worried. We cats PURR.

Empty Throne, Empty Chair

 

This cartoon by Morten Morland in The Times shows how, inescapably, the rituals of the Queen's funeral remind us of our own losses. We also like Morland for his great November 9, 2020, rendering of a Trump-trashed Oval Office. We cats PURR.

Adieu To The Queue (And The Queen)

Queen Elizabeth's funeral is over, and we cats will miss checking in on the progress of the queue every day. It was amazing and fun.

So in honor of it all, here are a couple more photos of the corgis. They're not superior beings like we are, but it was nice that they turned out at Windsor Castle to say goodbye to their mistress — and we have to admit they're pretty cute. We cats PURR.

Today's Journalism: Dumb, Snarky And Lazy

By Sniffles

The Globe & Mail used to be a pretty good newspaper. No more. Here's how they characterized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the Queen's lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

"Unlike the tens of thousands of people joining the eight-kilometer queue along the River Thames, Mr. Trudeau used a special VIP entrance to pay his respects to the Queen."

We don't get it. What did they expect?

It seems that, like a lot of right-wing pundits in the US, The Globe & Mail just can't get over the fact that Justin Trudeau is Prime Minister. But isn't it about time they did? It's been seven years. We cats HISS.

God Save The Queue, Part II

By Hubie and Bertie

We're seeing reports that if you get in the queue in London now to pay your respects to the Queen in Westminster Hall, you're facing a wait of up to — wait for it — 20 hours!

Holy smoke! David Beckham joined the queue at 2 in the morning last night, and waited for 12 or 13 hours — but then, he's a fit, athletic person. How are regular people waiting for longer, and why? We cats don't pretend to understand, but we have some theories.

1. No monarch has checked out for 70 years, so this is a significant historical occasion. People feel compelled to be a part of it.

2. Great Britain, and the British monarchy, still hold sway over people's pride and emotions. So maybe we should hold another Brexit vote now? The results might be different this time.

3. People feel personally connected to the Queen, because she has always been there — and, as so many were tempted to think, always would be. Her death also reminds us of the passing of much-loved older people in our own lives.

4. Finally, maybe — just maybe — Elizabeth II was swell.

Like Elizabeth I, she inherited a kingdom that was pretty much on its ass, but which rose to greater heights in arts, culture, and soft power. By presiding over the contraction of the arrogant Empire to the inclusive, power-sharing Commonwealth, Elizabeth II ensured the UK's global influence. Yes, we're all wondering if Charles can carry this on. But he had the best example before him, didn't he? We cats PURR.

Gearing Up

By Miss Kubelik

The media like to pretend that the President's approval rating will make or break the midterms. Well, check out this poll result: Not only is Joe Biden's approval up, it's up among young adults, who have been registering in droves to vote in November since Dobbs.

In short, the expected "Red Wave" is circling the drain. Voters are suddenly realizing how progressive a President Joe Biden is.

So, with the yoke of an "unpopular President who routinely loses the first Congressional elections to be held in his first term" lifted, let's look at some House races that you can help in. Please check out these Democratic candidates and give them your support — with your dollars or your time, either in person, on the phone, or virtually. Thank you!

• Susie Lee, NV-3
• Steven Horsford, NV-4
• Marcy Kaptur, OH-9
• Angie Craig, MN-2
• Sharice Davids, KS-3

(This list is just the beginning — more to come! We cats PURR.)

God Save The Queue

By Zamboni

We cats wish we had made up this very punny headline, but alas — we must credit an anonymous Twitter wag. The creativity of folks on social media is one of the things that's keeping us going through what's turned out to be a surprisingly emotional loss. Elizabeth was Queen for the entirety of a lot of our lives, whether we have nine of them or one.

Which means that the British people, while mourning, are also patting themselves on the back for their queueing expertise. It's very impressive. Yes, there are port-a-potties and water stations and wristbands so you can get back in line if you have to leave it, but goodness gracious — nine and 10 hours to shuffle along slowly and stop and then shuffle along again sounds excruciating. Still, people are doing it, just to walk past the Queen's coffin and say thank you.

We hope Americans are taking note. With all the Republican voter suppression going on, it's quite possible that come November, our fellow citizens will find themselves in similarly endless lines — just to cast their ballots. Moral of the story? Stay in the queue. Reproductive freedom and democracy themselves are at stake. We cats PURR.

Words And (Good) Deeds

By Baxter

Anything we cats could say about what's happening on Martha's Vineyard right now is dwarfed by the testimony of people who are there. Here's a recent social media post from a Vineyard resident:

"I was at St. Andrews Church helping to feed these people. They were told they were going to Boston, where housing and jobs were waiting for them. In other words, they were lied to. There were men, women and CHILDREN! They hadn't eaten anything since 6 am.

"What kind of depraved individual loads up 50 people onto a plane and dumps them in a strange place without even notifying anyone that they're coming? These are 'leaders'? These are 'Christians'?

"I'll tell you what this is. It's a disgusting political stunt — at the expense of human beings just wanting to work and provide for their families.

"But you know what? On this island, we treated them with dignity. We fed them, we gave them medical attention, and we will give them a warm and safe place to sleep. Tomorrow, we will give them breakfast and help them figure out what's next. Because on Martha's Vineyard, we won't turn our backs on people in need who are being abused by extremist Republican governors for some cheap soundbite on Fox News.

"Thank you to all the volunteers who were there — it restores my faith in humanity that we came together to help people in need."

—Mike Savoy, Islanders Talk

Slings And Arrows

By Sniffles

Bearing in mind that it's always a little nerve-racking when Trumpy election deniers get close to winning office, New Hampshire's "Triple MAGA Night" last night could be something for Democrats to celebrate.

That's because three clowns won in the Granite State's GOP primaries to join current Bushie Governor Chris Sununu on the November ballot — something Sununu can't possibly be happy about.

Establishment Republicans spent a ton of money to support Matt Mowers in the First Congressional District, George Hansel in the Second, and, statewide, Chuck Morse for Senate. All lost to certifiable MAGA nutcases. (Senate primary winner Donald Bolduc appeared at his victory party bearing a Braveheart-y shield with arrows stuck in it. Whut?) 

These results made the earth move a bit. For example, Cook Political Report promptly moved the NH-02 race from toss-up to Lean D. So now we cats are wondering: Is there any chance that having to share the ballot with crazy Trumpsters can possibly take down Sununu, too? (Nobody in the press talks about it much, but Benedict Donald is far more toxic to midterm voters than President Biden is.)

Sununu and the Trumpsters losing because of MAGA-itis would drive not just arrows but a dagger into what's left of the Republican Party. It can't come too soon. We cats PURR.

November 8: Mark Your Calendars

 

By Hubie and Bertie

Republicans have been awfully busy lately trying to hide evidence of their extreme anti-choice views. So are they frustrated today that Lady Lindsey came out with legislation for a national abortion ban? Or is the base getting restless, and the GOP has to throw them a bone?

It's hard to know what's going on in the minds of crazy people. We can just thank the party for reminding the entire country that women's bodily autonomy is on the ballot this fall.

Already in evidence is the fact that record numbers of women have registered to vote in numerous states, and Democrats have performed well in bellwether special elections. Now, other developments will have an impact. For instance, the ballot in Michigan will include a referendum on choice — something the GOP strenuously wanted to avoid. And Republicans are coming out in support of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer in droves. Just one state's example of how trends are going against the GOP.

Lindsey "I Picked 15 Weeks" Graham's national-ban legislation doesn't have a chance of passing the Senate, but it seems he and Mitch McConnell think they can thread a needle: Let right-wing candidates in anti-choice districts glom onto it, while saying sotto voce that the party believes choice should be left to the states. Our job is to relentlessly call them out on it for the next two months. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Keep Calm, And Keep Congress

By Miss Kubelik

The January 6 committee announced today that they would reconvene their hearings on September 28. This news broke as people were wondering what Benedict Donald was doing on a golf course with no clubs, but with eight other worried-looking guys.

Are these attorneys whose offices Trump did not trust weren't bugged? Witnesses he's tampering with? Because the Justice Department just issued 40 subpoenas to his aides and seized two more phones. 

Things are happening. We just don't know what. And the DOJ's latest move is "just" in relation to subverting the election — not the stolen nuclear secrets. In the dizzying array of investigations into Trump's crimes, it's sometimes hard to keep up.

Long story short, Department of Justice investigators have been indescribably busy over the last 20 months. The best thing we can do is have faith that their hard work will bear fruit, and, in the meantime, focus on not just keeping control of the House and Senate, but adding to our majorities there. We cats PURR.

Tribute

 

Just one of the many moving photos from a difficult few days: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the condolence book at Rideau Hall last night. "I will so miss the chats I had with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," he said. "She was thoughtful, curious, helpful and funny — and she brought comfort and strength to us all." We cats PURR.

Pee Pee Prevails

By Zamboni

No one's really paying attention, what with the second Elizabethan age ending and Ukraine staging a breathtaking blitzkrieg — but the Conservative Party of Canada held its leadership election today. And the ever-unappealing Pierre Poliviere, aka PP, won it.

It wasn't close: Pee Pee won with 69 percent of the vote. Which means that the Tory party in Canada has gone completely Trumpy now.

This would generally not alarm us, since a big majority of Canadians say they reject Pee Pee's brand of politics. But we Americans know from bruising experience what it's like to see the opposition party choose someone who appears totally unelectable, only to find out later that they were wrong.

As for the Liberals, Justin Trudeau has been Prime Minister for seven years. There won't be an election in Canada for another two. So we're thinking that in a year's time it would probably be good for him to step back and turn the reins over to Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland. That's a premiership we're definitely looking forward to. We cats PURR.

One Queen, Two Trudeaus

 

Did Queen Elizabeth find both Pierre Trudeau and his son Justin, um, hot? Our phones are open! We cats PURR.

Charles, Climate Champion

By Baxter

Lots of speculation going on today about what kind of monarch Charles will be. (Sorry, we're having a hard time referring to him as "King Charles." First, because we want to say "Spaniel" after that, but also because goodness gracious, he's always been Prince of Wales to us.)

The BBC documentary that aired tonight implied that Charles would set aside all the causes that he supported as Prince: sustainable farming, opportunities for underserved young people, etc. But there's one that we hope he doesn't leave behind: climate.

The world is teetering on the brink of ecological disaster. Just imagine how much influence a new King of England could bring to bear on the need to grapple with this difficult challenge.

In the United States, Republicans have abdicated responsibility on global warming — even people like Marco Rubio, whose state will surely be submerged by rising sea waters by mid-century. But an international movement for climate mitigation, headed by a newly anointed British King, and supported by progressive leaders like President Biden, could make the difference between World Saved and World Doomed.

We're rooting for this. In the meantime, we cats wish our friends in the UK well, and we PURR.

Okay, More Dogs

 

This is the de Adder Du Jour (actually, coming Monday in the Toronto Star). We cats PURR.

This One Got Us

 

Every now and then, a dog can appear on a cat blog. Today is one of those times. The cartoonist is Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and we suggest you check him out. We cats PURR.

A Few Side Notes For Now

By Sniffles

One of the most significant things Elizabeth II did for Canada was approve the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982. Essentially, what this meant was that Canada could amend or change its constitution without the blessing of London. Freedom!

Yep, that's then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau grinning like a kid as the Queen signs, partly because his greatest accomplishment, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, came into being at the same time. It's also before the Queen adopted her latest style of hat, which she wore most frequently over the past 10 years or so, and which, with its high crown and broad brim, was fab.

Canada has also been on our mind because the Queen is on their currency. The CBC avers that her image will be replaced with Charles. But what if Canada went in a different direction? We nominate Leonard Cohen, The Guess Who, William Shatner and Alice Munro.

Well, all this will be figured out. In the meantime, it hasn't been such a bad day in the Former Colonies. Steve Bannon was perp-walked today, the Justice Department filed a blistering appeal against Judge Cannon's stupid special master decision, and DOJ is also investigating Trump's post-election Save America PAC. Yay! We cats PURR.

Speaking Of Portraits...

Is the Queen's life drawing peacefully to its close? Or will she fool us all and be back on the pickleball court in no time? We're pulling for her to make it to 100 like her mum did. We cats PURR.

UPDATE: Well, okay, Elizabeth has left the planet and we'll have to cancel that pickleball match. More later as we adjust to the idea of the UK having a King. Meanwhile, rest in power, Your Maj.

Peaceful Transfer Of Portraits

By Hubie and Bertie

Generally, official White House portraits of Presidents and First Ladies are, um, not great — unless they're painted by the matchless genius John Singer Sargent, like Theodore Roosevelt's was. Among the other acceptables are Lincoln's, FDR's and Truman's. Then there's Jerry Ford's: Geez, it doesn't even look like him.

Only a couple of First Lady paintings stand out, like Edith Roosevelt's, Grace Coolidge's (that flapper dress!), and Eleanor Roosevelt's — which, like the woman herself, is highly distinctive. But no, we've never cared for Jacqueline Kennedy's, sorry to say.

So the Obama portraits, all things considered, are pretty nice. Better than the ones at the National Portrait Gallery, in our humble opinion. It'll be interesting to see where the Bidens hang them, because zillions of tourists will want to photograph them, and often, their location is an opportunity to make a statement. (We couldn't help noticing, for example, that the portrait of Jimmy Carter is in a prominent place, on a wall just outside the East Room.) To borrow a phrase from Barack, the Obama paintings have grace, intelligence, and are fine.

But what was even better was seeing Team Obama-Biden back together again. It was fun, inspiring, eloquent (thank you, Michelle, for saying what needed to be said) — and best of all, as 44 and 46 celebrated, you could kind of pretend that 45 never happened. We cats PURR.

Turns Out That Bodily Autonomy Is A Thing

By Miss Kubelik

Tomorrow should be a fun day at the White House, with the Obamas scheduled to visit for the unveiling of their official portraits.

It will be swell to see them together with Joe & Jill again — especially because we cats are truly overdosing on all the Benedict Donald news. Cable TV pundits just love to talk about him, don't they? It's too much. We've gotten to the point where we have to de-trumpify our entire lives — all nine of them.

Meanwhile, the talking heads (at least, the ones online) appear to have figured out that 2022 might not follow their assumed playbook. Women are riding to the rescue. Check these numbers out:

• After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, people in Kansas rushed to register to vote. More than 70 percent of them were women.
• In Pennsylvania, 62 percent of people registering to vote registered as Democrats. Fifty-four percent were younger than 25.
• Fifty-six percent of people surveyed say that reproductive rights will be very important to their midterm vote.

Republicans are so damn scared right now that they're wiping their campaign websites clean of their "Don't kill the babies!" language. (Luckily, that desperate move has been noticed.) So, what's left for them to try? Are they going to disenfranchise all these women voters the way they've suppressed people of color? Maybe repeal the 19th Amendment? We wouldn't put it past them. We cats HISS.

Ukrainian Freedom Fighter Cats

Amid all our domestic political upheaval, we must remember that Ukraine is still fighting for its freedom. Not sure who the artist is here, but we'll credit it as soon as we can. Meanwhile, we cats PURR.

Defending Democracy Is Not Partisan

By Zamboni

It would be interesting to go back to the news media in Germany in 1933 to see how much on board they were with Hitler taking over via a sleight of hand. Did they say it was okay, or raise an alarm? Did they practice bothsidesism? Because the American press right now is surely doing that.

President Biden gave an important speech on Thursday night. From what we can tell, the cable networks have been droning without pause as to whether Biden owes the Trumpy Republican Party an apology. And since Trump held one of his "shows" in Pennsylvania last night, how many of them have pointed out that it was 1) rambling, 2) filled with grievances, 3) admitted more stuff that will make the DOJ sit up and take notice, and 4) implicitly called for violence, thereby making Biden's point?

We cats have no idea, because our TV is off. Cable news was already unbearable, and now that CNN has been taken over by the right wingers, and MSNBC is barely tolerable, we're probably relegated to C-SPAN for our political news. And the newspapers, which have old content, and sometimes don't even get delivered when they should.

American journalism is in a sorry state. They play such a significant role in the preservation of democracy that we cats are worried. In the meantime, we can only choose to amplify the President's message, and to join with others in saying: This midterm election is more important than any other midterm in our history. We're not kidding. Register to vote, check your registration often, and for God's sake, VOTE this November. Otherwise, the country's done for. We cats PURR.

If The Shoe Fits, As They Say

By Baxter

In case you were wondering if Dark Brandon was exaggerating last night when he talked about MAGA Republicans as a threat to democracy, take it from us, he was not.

We could make a depressing inventory of all the Trumpy candidates across the country who have called for political violence, but for now we'll just settle for the most recent one we've seen: a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin who's pushing "pitchforks and torches." How very Charlottesville of him.

But gosh, Republicans are big mad today. Looks like President Biden touched a nerve, and the GOP got their fee-fees hurt. That's because everything Dark Brandon said last night was true.

And, in true Trumpy fashion, events today have overtaken the speech. The FBI released its inventory list from its search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, and the news is not pretty. Benedict Donald is a threat to democracy? Yep. And also a threat to national security? Sadly, also yes.

Sooner or later Republicans are going to have to peel away from Trump. They've been riding the tiger for years now, but with Donald's treason growing clearer and clearer, it's going to have to happen. In the meantime, they can rail at Dark Brandon all they want, but they've made their bed. In the words of Harry Truman: "I don't give them hell. I tell them the truth, and they think it's hell." We cats PURR.

North To Alaska

By Sniffles

Not sure what to write about today, since the news is blasting us like water from a fire hose. But since we're tired of Trump's legal travails — only because we have to look at endless stills of Benedict Donald during the coverage — let's talk about Alaska, shall we?

How delicious that a House seat that's been held by a Republican for nearly 50 years just flipped to a Democrat — and to an Alaska Native to boot. Even better, how wonderful that it was a seat denied to Sarah Palin, the former Alaska Governor and original Trumpster whom John McCain elevated to national politics in 2008. (Which is why we will always, and forever, despise John McCain.)

Palin did not take her defeat well. She and other Republicans suddenly decided they hated ranked-choice voting, which makes us wonder about their dedication to the popular vote.

As Adam Serwer has pointed out in The Atlantic:

"Everyone knew the rules of this election before it was held. A majority of Alaskan voters might have preferred to support a Republican in theory, but they did not prefer Palin, the actual Republican candidate they ended up with.

"States are not party fiefdoms that are inherited by whatever empty suit the Republican National Committee sticks on the ballot.

"A majority of Alaskan voters preferred the Democrat. The fact that this could happen in a state as conservative as Alaska is really the GOP’s failure." We cats PURR.