A Bad Week For MAGA, And It's Only Monday

By Miss Kubelik

Will somebody tell Benedict Donald that Bad Bunny's spectacular Super Bowl halftime show crushed TPUSA's silly counter-program in the ratings? (Trump might not be surprised, since Bad Bunny was even spotted on screens at the Mar-a-Lago Super Bowl party. Hilarious!)

In more bad news for Trump World today, Pam Bondi is scheduled to testify to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, and it should be quite the show. Ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who viewed some of the Epstein files today under the substandard conditions in which DOJ made them available, has said that there are plenty of unexplained redactions (and non-redactions), plus breezy chats about trafficking girls as young as nine. So gross. 

The Epstein fallout is causing a storm in the UK, but here in the United States it's more of a slow roll, which actually might be worse. It means a steady drumbeat of Epstein, Epstein, Epstein from now until November. The Trumpsters may have privately decided that their sacrificial lamb might be Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has shamelessly lied about his Epstein connections and seems generally universally loathed. But MAGA should be warned: Cutting Lutnick loose won't be enough.

Meanwhile, things keep going not so great for the GOP at large. In Colorado, for example, the state party is deep in debt and its leaders are brawling. Financial woes and kerfuffles are unwelcome at any time, but it's particularly bad for Colorado Republicans given that this year they already have to defend one very flippable House seat, plus two others — Lauren Boebert's previous district, and her current one — that could easily be lost in a wave year.

Closer to (our) home, New York Republicans have more headaches on their hands. Bruce Blakeman, the presumed GOP opponent to Governor Kathy Hochul since Elise "Elsie" Stefanik dropped out of the race, was flatly told by Fulton County Sheriff Richard C. Giardino nope, nope, nopity-nope when he asked Giardino to be his running mate. (So, why float Giardino's name in the first place? This is the kind of stuff that happens when you don't know what you're doing.)

Not to be outdone, up in Elsie's soon-to-be-old Congressional stomping grounds of NY-21, two candidates hoping to replace her are in a cat fight to end all cat fights. Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino has threatened Assemblyman Robert Smullen with a cease-and-desist letter over Smullen's accusations that Constantino is a tax cheat. Sticker Mule Anthony is big, big mad, but Smullen is firing back. "It should come as no surprise that Anthony Constantino is accusing me of lying about his tax record," he said. “This is typical of him. Unfortunately for him, I won’t be intimidated and the facts are clearly on our side."

Way to go, guys. Don't focus on keeping the seat in Mikey Johnson's column — just attack one another viciously during the primary. Speaking for Democrats, we love to see it. We cats PURR.

Give This Clever Account A Follow

 

"Some People Happen To Live In Times And At Places Where History Is Made"

Wow, team, this is a truly great speech. Totally worth 30 minutes of your time. It sets the stage for 2026. We cats PURR.

It's -6F Right Now, But Things Are Warm And Friendly For Kathy Hochul

Just a quick follow-up on our Kathy Hochul post: What a difference a year makes. Once, Hochul could do nothing right in the media's eyes. Now she's getting cutesy memes and reposts. We cats PURR.

Example For The World

This message hangs in the Olympic workout space for Team Canada. We cats approve, and we PURR.

We Don't Really Care About The Olympics, But

 

It's totally swell that the US athletes got applause, and that JD Vance was booed. Well done!

Meanwhile, here is Prime Minister Mark Carney's message to Team Canada. We cats aren't really into the Olympics, but we still hope that the games show the world two things: Federal democracies produce great accomplishments and great people. We cats PURR.

Just Posting This For No Reason Whatsoever

Note to the Obamas: Silence is not your best option. We know you usually refrain, but this time, please say something. We cats PURR.

Donny-Brook

By Zamboni

 It's pretty amusing how Republicans who are electorally vulnerable in the fall have raced to condemn Trump's posting last night of the Obamas as apes. And how, after Karoline Leavitt scolded all of us for being upset about nothing earlier today, the White House has not only walked it back but changed its story several times.

Benedict Donald, who has been famously racist for decades, now says he told an anonymous "staffer" to post the offending video, but that he didn't see the whole thing before he gave the order. Hmm. Why would you tell your team to publish something without having viewed it yourself? Never mind — all excuses from Team Trump are total crap.

But let's take this seriously for a moment: Does Donald have control over his social media account, or not? We've all seen how, um, not there Trump is these days. Is there a small group of people (Miller, Cheung, unnamed "staffers") who also have access? If so, who are those people, exactly? And do they have clearance to access and disseminate messages on one of the world's most followed social media accounts? And if they do, will they continue to?

After all, and let's extrapolate here: Couldn't this anonymous "staffer," in the middle of a squiffy night, post something like an image of, say, the Prophet Muhammad fucking a sheep — after which the entire Arab world would declare war on the United States? Which could, seriously, end in some kind of nuclear war? Just spitballing here.

Meanwhile, this is just more pain that Trump is inflicting on Republicans who are already looking at total obliteration in November. And all those endangered Republicans who are grateful that the White House took the image down? They should only be in the clear when Trump apologizes for his racist shit. (Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, we're looking at you.) We cats are disgusted at it all, and we HISS.

P.S. If Senator Tim Scott is truly offended by this Obama post, he could — as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee — refuse to hold hearings on Federal Reserve nominee Kevin Warsh until Donald apologizes. If Scott is your Senator, maybe call or email him.

Hochul Ascendant

By Baxter

We cats are very pleased with our New York Governor, Kathy Hochul.

Of course, we kinda always knew that she would end up in the place she's in now. But her canny sense of all things political received official recognition today by The Grey Lady herself, The New York Times, which has essentially dubbed her The Comeback Kathy.

"With the election nine months away, Ms. Hochul is heading to Syracuse for the State Democratic Party convention on Friday in a somewhat surprising position of strength," the Times reports in its inimitable, New York Times-y way. The paper observes that Hochul's Republican opponents — most prominently, Elise "Elsie" Stefanik — have melted away like the Wicked Witch of the West. Her Democratic primary opponent, Antonio Delgado, is behind by 50 points (yep, 50). And the presumed GOP nominee for Governor, Bruce Blakeman, just committed political suicide by criticizing Renee Good and defending ICE.

Hochul has also handled the emergence of socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani with patience and savvy, partnering with him on issues she cares about, like child care. And it earned her his endorsement for re-election yesterday. If Republicans and the political press were hoping for a Mamdani-Hochul foofaraw, they're out of luck.

But on top of all this good news, we've noticed something else: Thanks to Trumpism, Governor Hochul has been able to embrace a persona she wasn't particularly known for as either a Congresswoman or Lt. Governor — the Feisty Gal From Buffalo. This has manifested itself both IRL and online (see above). Most excellent, Gov! We don't know if you've hired away some of Gavin Newsom's social media team members — but whatever, please keep it up. We cats PURR.

De Adder Du Jour

You may have heard desperate rumors that the Moose & Squirrel movie is pulling in money. Don't believe them. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)