A Different Question For Debate Night

By Hubie and Bertie

We cats are dipping in and out of the Vice Presidential debate because, gosh, we hate to see a grown man cry. Speaking of crying, has Mike "Poonce" started already? If so, did he read today's polls? Or does he have — gasp! — pink eye? Check out the left one. Did you know that pink eye can be an early symptom of COVID?

Senator Harris, please keep your distance.

Meanwhile, let's talk about something completely off-topic. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania will not run for re-election to the Senate in two years. Sounds like a mundane, Inside-the-Beltway story, but there may be more to it than meets the eye (or the pink eye).

The timing is odd. Toomey has not only taken himself out just as Moscow Mitch McConnell's current majority is teetering on the brink, but he also took himself out of the 2022 Governor's race against the incumbent Democrat, Tom Wolfe. Obviously he was going to face a QAnon primary challenge in either race. But why announce this now? Why not be a good Republican and wait until after November 3?

Maybe he took himself out because he has a surprise coming — an electoral, career-killing surprise.

Is it an endorsement of Joe Biden? A change of heart on the Barrett nomination? And if it's the former, is he hoping President Biden appoints him Ambassador to Ireland? We cats wonder, and we PURR.

Healing The House Divided

 

Joe Biden gave a terrific speech in Gettysburg today. It's 20 minutes well spent if you want to feel cleansed of the perfidies of Benedict Donald and you're ready to take our government back. We cats PURR.

De Adder Du Jour

You'll never see this cartoon in the United States, so here's the quick back story: Canada's Atlantic provinces have basically walled themselves off from the rest of the country and therefore have very low COVID case levels. And the White House reference is fun! We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder)

Calling Out The Idiocy

By Miss Kubelik

Donald Trump has damaged and besmirched so many American institutions that Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was maybe the only one left. And now it, too, has been sullied by a four-day stay that President Superspreader is rumored to be ending tonight. We can hear the deep sighs of relief all the way from Bethesda.

Sean Conley, the clueless, lying dude in the white coat who briefed the nation on Trump's condition over the weekend, is a White House doctor. But because he lied and dissembled while standing in front of the imposing doors of Walter Reed, lots of Americans probably thought he was representing it — not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

We can only imagine how the Walter Reed clinical staff gasped in horror as they watched. And once Trump took his infamous drive past his lamebrain supporters on Sunday, somebody had to take the reputation of the medical center back.

That task apparently fell to James Phillips, a Walter Reed attending physician and GWU emergency doc, who tweeted late yesterday afternoon with indignant fury. "Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential 'drive-by' just now has to be quarantined for 14 days," he said. "They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity."

(Secret Service agents were pretty unhappy, too.)

Longtime civil servants and others who work in the US government's Trump-abused departments and agencies must be on tenterhooks for November 3 to get here. After that, they'll hopefully only need to hang on until January 20, when, we all fervently pray, sanity will return. In the meantime, pushback to the Trump madness from people like Dr. Phillips is a joy to behold. We cats PURR.

(VIDEO: Watch Jill Biden show the Trumpsters how it's done.)

Shield Us

By Zamboni

The Biden-Harris campaign just announced that Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID-19 for the third time since the Presidential debate in Cleveland. This is good news, but Biden's not out of the woods yet. We'll feel better if he keeps testing negative through the coming week.

Meanwhile, we haven't been able to contain our rage at Benedict Donald endangering our candidate by spewing saliva at him for 90 minutes on Tuesday. And we hope Kamala Harris can borrow South Carolina Senate contender Jaime Harrison's plexiglass shield when she and Mike Pence debate this week. (Harrison's shield was not only hilarious, but considering how recklessly the GOP has been acting, very smart.)

Perhaps Trump's and the Republicans' cavalier attitude toward infecting people is all America can expect, considering how badly they've screwed up the pandemic. But wouldn't you think that they'd want to at least protect themselves if they're letting the peasants die? Au contraire: White House staff, Trump donors and campaign people who are worried about exposure have been left adrift, not getting any information or guidance on what to do next, reports The Wall Street Journal (which we note is not exactly a wild-eyed, liberal paper).

According to the Journal, Trump had a rapid COVID test that came back positive, after which he needed a second, more reliable one. And he went on FOX "News" and attended his New Jersey fundraiser in the meantime without saying a word. He "also asked one adviser not to disclose results of their own positive test. 'Don't tell anyone.'" One source, identified as "an administration official," said he'd heard nothing from the West Wing and was resorting to "Twitter and TV." 

There's more. New York magazine reports that the larger White House staff is in an uproar. "Since this whole thing started, not one email has gone out to tell employees what to do or what’s going on." And Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt and their fellow Lincoln Lads have tweeted that they're hearing directly from members of Team Trump. "There is real panic and rage at Trump and the leadership of the White House and campaign," Schmidt said. "There was a mutiny at the campaign. People will not, and should not, show up for work."

All that was before Trump took his obnoxious little joy ride at Walter Reed today. And there's just one month until Election Day.

We cats are never overconfident — we're Democrats, after all. But it really sounds like Trump World has descended into Titanic-level chaos. Can we spend the next four weeks keeping our candidate healthy and our voters turning out? Will the election be safe from Vladimir Putin and the Proud Boys? Is there a plexiglass shield strong enough to protect America from the threat of Trump? We cats HISS.

Words Of Wisdom

By Baxter

While Trump is in the hospital with the coronavirus, let's discuss his disgusting performance at the Tuesday debate once more. Specifically, his shot at Joe Biden about Hunter Biden's drug addiction.

Why does Trump think that folks would not view Hunter's problems with understanding and compassion? Easy-peasey. Trump is not only a monster, he doesn't understand the American people.

If we cats weren't so outraged by the fact that Trump put our candidate in danger of COVID on Tuesday, we could devote equal fury to his shot at Hunter. Thankfully, Biden turned it aside with grace. We don't know how he found the patience, but he did.

Here is Molly Jong-Fast in Vogue magazine, writing about how important this moment was. Thank you, Molly, for your insight. We cats PURR.

"Trump thinks he can win by shaming Joe Biden with his son’s struggles with addiction. But Hunter is just one of millions of Americans who have struggled with addiction and alcoholism.

"Neither alcoholism nor addiction is a moral failing. It’s not the 1940s. We understand that alcoholism is a treatable disease. Which is good, because we live in a country riddled with alcoholism and addiction. When this pandemic is over and we start mourning our dead in person and not over Zoom calls, we will likely be confronted by more loss, more addiction. We will have to find a way to serve these people, and we will start by not shaming them for their genetics."

Lest We Furr-Get: "I'm Still With Mel"

(NOTE: This post has been updated.)

By Sniffles

This photo of Larry Kudlow struggling to put on a mask perfectly summarizes the Trump approach to the coronavirus pandemic: Way too late, totally clueless, a thing that inspires both derision and rage. We cats have felt both those emotions today.

Not only did these vile Trumpsters put our 77-year-old Presidential candidate in danger on Tuesday night, we are outraged because more than 200,000 Americans have died on their watch for no reason. No reason. When you've served in government as we have, even for a short period of time, you come to appreciate how deeply politicians' bad actions — or worse, criminal inactions — can damage the country. 

Americans may not like government (thanks to Ronald Reagan), but they depend on it nevertheless. The Trump Administration should be sued for malpractice.

So that's our initial take on what's happened so far. What about the future? Benedict Donald has been helicoptered to Walter Reed. The White House is doing the Happy Talk dance. But the country needs to be prepared for anything. What if Typhoid Donald is sick from now until November 3, or even checks out?

Since we're seeing MAGAts and Russian bots frantically tweeting that the 2020 election should be canceled or postponed, let's put this in a little context. Back in 2000 — which feels like 100 years ago — Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan of Missouri died in plane crash on October 16, as he was running for Senate against Republican John Ashcroft. It was too close to the election to remove his name from the ballot. Carnahan — the dead guy — beat Ashcroft by two points. His widow, Senator Jean Carnahan, served in his stead.

In 2002, Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone died, also in a plane crash, in late October. Former Vice President Walter Mondale ran in his place and was beaten by the execrable Republican Norm Coleman. Ugh, those were dark days.

Long story short, the fate of American institutions like our elections — in which we exercise our most sacred right, the vote — is not determined by the fates of the people running in them. Sorry, Russian bots.

Our country doesn't need any more chaos, so we're not exactly keen on the thought of Benedict Donald succumbing to the virus he admitted to Bob Woodward he downplayed. The only thing we care about right now is the health of Joe Biden. Who thankfully is negative (for now). We cats send good thoughts to him, and we PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Typhoid Donald Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

Does anything drive home how egregiously irresponsibly the Trumpsters have handled the coronavirus pandemic than the fact that Benedict Donald, plus Moose & Squirrel, have apparently tested positive themselves? What is most crucial now is complete and total transparency from the White House — not just going forward, but retracing steps backward, so that everyone who came into contact with these Trump idiots can take steps to protect their health.

A few thoughts:

How do we know it's true? A matter of national security like this cannot rely on a single middle-of-the-night tweet from a lying sociopath. Release the medical records now. (And the tax returns.)

So they knew that Hope Hicks was sick yesterday morning, but they still trotted out Kayleigh Mendacity to hold a briefing in the afternoon without saying anything? What does the White House press corps have to say about that?

Somebody needs to smuggle a photo or two out of that fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Well, this gets the Melania "I Hate Christmas" tapes, Baker-Acted Brad Parscale, sexual harasser Kimberly Guilfoyle and the Proud Boys out of the news for awhile. But only for awhile.

MAGAts gonna be mad. They're going to have to wear masks now.

Let's roll the tapes of Trump's and the Republicans' reactions when Hillary Clinton came down with pneumonia during the general election in 2016. Surely they were all kind and empathetic. Riiiggghhht..

You can't help but wonder this, since Team Trump has been evasive to the point of endangering people: Did Trump time the news to overwhelm this morning's crappy jobs report and Biden's upcoming record-smashing fundraising numbers for September?

We'll sign off for now — because obviously today is going to be a news tsunami, and we have to gather our strength for more posts. But we're sending constant good wishes for the health and well-being of Joe and Jill Biden, and everyone from Team Biden who had to attend that disgusting Trump super-spreader event Tuesday night. Please everyone, vote. Let's end this nightmare. We cats HISS.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Debate Week Fallout Continues Version

By Miss Kubelik 

The polls are looking good (check these new ratings from Larry Sabato), so everyone who wants Donald Trump out of the White House can spend more time worrying about people being able to vote and the integrity of the election. Some shenanigans turned up on that front today that we're not keen on. Greg Abbott is limiting ballot drop-off locations in Texas to one per county — and the Russians are still at it.

Still, it appears to be another lost week for Benedict Donald. Here are a few thoughts.

Trump must have decided that the Hunter Biden-Burisma thingy wasn't going to fly any more. After all, it's too complicated to hurl across a debate stage in a three-second soundbite. So Tuesday night, as Joe Biden was talking about his late son Beau, Trump yapped: "Hunter got thrown out of the military. He was thrown out, dishonorably discharged for cocaine use." Funny that he picked drug use to go after, seeing as how Kellyanne Conway hasn't solved the opioid epidemic yet.

While we're talking addiction, it was amusing yesterday to see news flashes about Brad "Weird Beard" Parscale deciding to "step away" from the Trump campaign. Gee — in our experience, five weeks out from Election Day, campaign staffers are working their tails off 24/7. So if you're home in Florida, drinking a case of beer every day and beating up your wife, you've kinda "stepped away" already.

Finally, it took a little while for us to realize that it was Joe Biden — not Chris Wallace — who said the name "Proud Boys" on the debate stage the other night. Which means the fallout that's been so damaging for Trump (have you seen the photos of the Proud Boys founder sitting behind Trump at his rallies?) is thanks to Biden. Not bad for a guy who's supposed to be "sleepy."

In fact, if you look back on Joe's national debate performances — 2008, when he had to walk through the minefield that was Sarah Palin; 2012, when he had to right the ship after Obama's bad outing against Willard; and now, 2020 — he's done pretty darn well. We cats PURR.

Happy Birthday, President Carter!

"A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity."