Battered.

By Baxter

Are we the only ones who thought that Benedict Donald went into the Meet the Press interview intending to walk out from the get-go? Trump has been playing the press for 10 years — more than that if you count his years as a C-list New York mobster — and journalists from the Beltway and beyond have still not figured that out.

That's why you have Kristen Welker sputtering nonsense like "I traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview." That's why you have NBC decorating the set like it was something out of Green Acres. (Tractors? Bales of hay? Please.) That's why we all saw Welker kissing up to Donald afterward, claiming that "We had a substantial conversation on issues from the war in Iran to the economy, blah blah blah." 

What crap. If that was a "substantial conversation," we cats are eating Alpo for breakfast tomorrow.

There might not be anything more painful than witnessing someone give respect to someone who doesn't deserve it (and who dishes out only contempt in return). The dizzying cross-talk between Trump and Welker was Exhibit A on that, and it was torturous to watch.

The press is in an abusive relationship with Benedict Donald. Until one journalist truly stands up for his colleagues — yep, it has to be a man — and calls out all the bullshit, the abuse will continue. And the corporate media overlords will keep raking in the cash from eyeballs, clicks, and likes. As Joe Biden would say, "C'mon, man!" We cats HISS.

Citizen Trump Is Very Unhappy

By Sniffles

Here we go again. Not only did Benedict Donald shovel his "rigged election" nonsense at Kristen Welker this weekend, Preacher of the House Mikey Johnson and other Trumpy minions are taking up the call, mostly complaining about California.

They're doing it for a couple of reasons.

First, their preferred candidates (particularly Spencer Pratt) are faltering in Tuesday's jungle primary. Second, it's preparation for the November midterms, of course — they're laying the groundwork to cast doubt on everything. Why does it take soooooooo loooooooonnnnnnggg to count the votes in California? There must be fraud!

Nope, nope, nopity nope. Here's a quick explainer, courtesy of Marc Elias and Democracy Docket:

California is huge: It has 40 million people. Estimates are that 23 million voters cast ballots in the primary. Trump, whose math skills aren't much above the sixth-grade level, should try counting 23 million votes and see how long it takes. 

California is a universal vote-by-mail state. It sends mail-in ballots to every registered voter. Lots of people use them.

California counts all ballots that people mailed on time, even if they're received after Election Day.

California verifies all ballots before they're counted. (Which means, guess what — there's no fraud!)

California allows voters to fix any mistakes — like adding missing signatures —so their votes can count.

In short, California is one of the most voter-friendly states in the nation. No wonder Trump and his henchmen constantly attack it. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: From Citizen Kane, 1940. Authoritarians screaming about rigged elections is nothing new.)

Endangered Profession

 

Quite a weekend for American journalism. From Scott Pelley's revelations about the 60 Minutes trainwreck to Benedict Donald's hissy fit on Meet the Press, it was one for the ages. We cats were not thrilled with any of it. The tattered state of CBS is alarming, and Kristen Welker managed to get played even as Trump threw his mic on the ground, stomped on it, and waddled out. But at least it managed to generate a headline like this one. More later. We cats HISS.

An American Family

 

Two things about this fabulous photo of the Obamas: Is there anyone as gorgeous as Sasha? (Answer: No.) Also, we thought the tan suit had been given away. Barack still has it? Is that why it's not on display at the Obama Presidential Center? We cats switch our tails, and wonder.

Night Of The Hunter

Have you seen Hunter Biden's posts on Twitter these days? He has mastered the art of owning MAGAts, and we cats are here for it. But he's also engaging in sincere back-and-forths with people struggling with addiction. He's brutally honest, owns his mistakes, and encourages others who have faced, or are facing, the battles he has. We cats admire him for it. And we PURR.

Seat Of Power?

By Hubie and Bertie

In 1945, just back from Yalta and weeks before his death, Franklin D. Roosevelt apologized to Congress for addressing them from a chair instead of standing at a lectern. "I hope you'll pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down," he said, "but I know that you will realize that it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about 10 pounds of steel at the bottom of my legs."

It was a rare FDR acknowledgement of his polio-induced disability. He and his staff masked it so efficiently — and the press cooperated so thoroughly — that many Americans probably wondered what he meant by the "10 pounds of steel" reference. We can picture them listening to their radios and saying, "Wait, what?"

So, okay, we cats adore Franklin Roosevelt. But we have at least two quibbles with him. The first is the obvious one — the Japanese-American internment camps. The second is his lack of candor with the American people about his health in 1994-45. Although we pretty much understand why he did it, there's no excuse for his having kept VP Harry Truman in the dark about the atomic bomb and more.

Having admitted that, we have to say that the current cloak of silence around Benedict Donald's situation is extraordinary. We are well past a time in which the press would willingly collude with a popular President to come less-than-clean about his health, right? (We're thinking not just of FDR but of JFK.) But Trump isn't even popular now. So what's stopping journalists from demanding answers about Trump's health?

He's disappearing for days (if not a week) at a time. He's making appearances and giving remarks sitting down. He's repeating speeches from one event to another. He's got ewwy punctures on his neck, swollen cheeks, and bruises on his hands — not to mention weird bulges under his suit coats and trousers. WTF is going on?

This is the exact situation that the 25th amendment, enacted in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination, was meant to prevent. It guarantees that we will have a functioning President in the event of a current President's death, resignation, removal, or incapacitation. Sadly, the "incapacitation" part requires the Vice President and the Cabinet to take action. Which is not going to happen, right?

The thing about the Constitution is, it's not perfect. We can make it better. That's what amendments are for. So maybe we need an amendment to improve the 25th amendment? We cats PURR.

Benedict Donald Gets Slapped Back Again, Sleeps Through It

 

By Miss Kubelik

Well, actually, we don't know if Trump slept through his most recent smackdowns on Capitol Hill. But if he didn't, he surely will be shitposting about them all night. (Or maybe deciding to bomb Iran?)

Three Republican Senators — Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski — voted today with Democrats to keep the odious and utterly inexperienced Bill Pulte from becoming the acting DNI. Then the House passed a new aid package to Ukraine, with 18 (count 'em, 18) GOP members defying Donald.

So much winning! If Biden or Obama or Clinton had this many losses in the space of a week, the media would be hyperventilating. Democratic pearl clutchers would be collapsing on their fainting couches, and the Republicans would be declaring the President dead.

Which is precisely what some tweeters and skeeters were saying when Trump went seven days without a live, in-person appearance — finally showing up yesterday at an Oval Office presser to talk about nonsense. He also made a special effort to insult CNN's Kaitlin Collins. It's inexplicable that nobody in the White House press corps will stand up for the women Trump abuses. We cats HISS.

De Adder Du Jour

 

Benedict Donald sure has been losing a lot lately. The Kennedy Center, the Iran war, the slush fund for terrorists, and the billion-dollar ballroom all seem to be slip-sliding away. And yesterday, his chosen candidate for Iowa governor crashed and burned in the primary. Trump even had to show up in the Oval Office today to take reporters' questions after more than a week of no-shows and rumors he was stroked out or dead. Hm! More on the elections later. In the meantime, we cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)

Smullen Doesn't Give A Shake

 

 

 

By Zamboni

There's a nasty (i.e., very fun) fight going on between the Republicans who are vying for Elise "Elsie" Stefanik's Congressional seat in NY-21.

As we posted a little over a month ago, the Trump-endorsed candidate, Anthony Constantino, is giving a whole lot of headaches to the more traditional, state-party-blessed hopeful, Assemblyman Robert Smullen. No love is lost between these two dudes, and when they met in a debate last week, the fur kinda flew.

"Both candidates adhered to the rules of decorum during the debate, confining their statements to their allotted time and requiring little intervention from [the] moderator," Yahoo news reports. "But they continued to attack each other in harsh terms, with Constantino casting Smullen as an unknown 'C-lister' who has failed to adequately support Trump. Smullen countered that Constantino is 'unfit to serve' and noted his campaign had once hired a man accused of murder."

(Note to the file: That last bit is true. We kid you not.)

"The caustic parley that has defined the primary race spilled over when Constantino reached across his podium to offer Smullen a handshake," Yahoo continued. "Smullen ignored Constantino, gathered his belongings, and walked off the television studio set."

Wow. Smullen later explained that he wasn't going to shake hands because Constantino had sent him a mean text. (The text was not nice, but it was also ridiculous.) This gave Constantino another line of attack, and made Smullen look petty — positively Trumpy, in fact.

The snub reminded us of Ann Richards's reaction when her Republican opponent for Texas governor, Clayton Williams, pulled the same stunt on her. It was back in 1990, when Trumpian behavior was still unknown. "Oh, Clayton," she said, "that's bad." Yup. We cats PURR.

Jon Ossoff: Trump Is "A Failed President And A National Disgrace"

 

Got a few minutes (or maybe 30 of them)? You'll want to check out this knockout speech that Senator Jon Ossoff gave in Atlanta yesterday. Let's put it this way: He didn't mince words. This is how you do it!

Lots of folks are talking him up for President in 2028 — but we need to get him re-elected to the Senate first. Click here. We cats PURR.

(UPDATE: We must add this spot-on observation from an account on, believe it or not, Twitter: "Two things I particularly enjoy: 1) His utter contempt for Trump and his ilk is palpable, but it's almost apolitical. It's moral without being preachy. Tough needle to thread. 2) There is a seriousness here that is woefully missing in our politics today." We cats agree 100 percent, and we PURR again.)