A Royal Error

By Baxter

Nobody expected to see King Charles II in the news today, but there he was. And all because Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News either made a nearly (if not completely) understandable typo, or he really doesn't know his English monarchs.

Sherman tweeted this morning: "WH expected to announce that KING CHARLES II will make a state visit next month. Likely to include address to joint session." Okay, how is that going to work?

At first we thought maybe it was the White House that got Charles's number wrong. (They're not bright.) But on closer look, Sherman was quote-tweeting an earlier Punchbowl post that had it right. So it was Just Jake. Tweeps immediately jumped in with all sorts of Charles II jocularity. Did you know that was a thing? Apparently it is.

After a few hours, Sherman must have figured out what was going on. "King Charles III," he said. "Not Charles II. The latter died 300 years ago. Sorry." The tweet didn't really help, because the jocularity raged on. 

As everyone pointed out ad infinitum, Charles II was the 17th-century king who succeeded to the throne after the English Civil Wars. He was known for his love of opulent dress, his interest in the arts, and his spaniels. (And in Forever Amber, he was played by George Sanders, which was, take it from us, terrific casting.) Journalism's in a sorry state when we can't decide if Sherman's goof was a typo or not. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Joyeuse Saint-Patrick!

Don't ask us to explain this, but apparently the City of Montreal's St. Patrick's Day parade was today — five days after March 17th — and it took place in a snowstorm. Not only that, the city's mayor, who is of Chilean descent, was out there celebrating with everyone else. This is really cool. We cats PURR.

AIPAC Crashes And Burns

By Sniffles

The midterms' primary season grinds along, and we cats have a few thoughts about the Illinois contests that took place last week. Our particular focus is the Congressional race in IL-09 — not our personal when-we-were-kittens stomping grounds, but close enough for government work, as they say.

IL-09 was one of those races that highlighted the unfortunate role of money from AIPAC — something that we've noticed is a worrying source of discord in our party. The race was to succeed able Congresswoman Jan Schakowski, who is retiring after nearly 30 years. Evanston mayor Daniel Biss came in first with 29.6 percent of the vote. Bernie Broette Kat Abughazaleh was second with 25.9 percent. AIPAC-funded candidate Laura Fine trailed embarrassingly in third place with 20 percent.

This makes us happy, because Biss's win shows us that Jewish Democratic candidates do not need to toe Benjamin Netanyahu's line to be successful. Biss, whose mother is Israeli and who has said that the current Israeli government's behavior is "appalling," has made it clear that AIPAC should not dictate America's foreign policy — and that the lobbying group's tactics against him were deceptive and undemocratic. "AIPAC found out the hard way that my district is not for sale," he said.

You know, at this point, we should just treat AIPAC today as a Republican organization. They are completely Netanyahu-Trump-aligned, and we should salute Jan Schakowski for bucking them — although we're pretty sure that she received a bunch of AIPAC money in her earlier campaigns. (Those were the good old days.) She has had a distinguished career in Congress as a loyal Pelosi lieutenant, has always encouraged and supported women to run for office, and in this race picked the most highly qualified candidate to succeed her.

The other point is that AIPAC —which once had an unassailable reputation in Washington —is now toxic. More evidence that everything Trump touches dies. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

File This For When He Goes

Will any Republicans condemn this? Or will they wear it like cheap Florsheim shoes that don't fit? We cats HISS.

For Women's History Month: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

 

Her influence on rock 'n roll is self-evident. All she needs is for white folks to recognize it. We cats salute her, and we PURR.

"This...Is London"

By Hubie and Bertie

So CBS News Radio, after nearly a century of broadcasting, is being shut down by Gen X idiot Bari Weiss, who cannot possibly understand the influence and impact of the House of Murrow on American journalism, politics, history, and culture.

"We understand how difficult this news is for our staff and their colleagues, who have worked side by side with us to cover some of the most significant stories of our time," Weiss said.

No, you don't, Bari. You absolutely don't. We cats call bullshit on that.

Weiss was born a full 40-plus years after Edward R. Murrow set the standard for on-the-scene reporting with his broadcasts from the 1940 London Blitz. The so-called Murrow Boys reported not only World War II and its aftermath, but also the McCarthy era and every story of national importance through the end of the Sixties. (When we were kittens, our dad, in fact, listened to WBBM every morning in Chicago before he went to work.) Walter Cronkite was not a Murrow Boy, but he inherited the distinguished mantle. His time, sadly, is long gone.

This raping of CBS makes us sick. Let's hope that in some future timeline, clueless fuckups like Weiss can be ejected, and its former glory restored. In the meantime, we cats HISS.

Now All They Need Is A Nobel Prize

The people of the Twin Cities have received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their peaceful protest against the brutality of Trump and ICE. An honor they well deserve!

And just to make Benedict Donald extra-mad, the Kennedy Library Foundation is honoring Fed Chair Jerome Powell, too. We cats PURR.

Is Everyone An Epstein?

By Miss Kubelik

Cesar Chavez's farm worker world could not have been more different from Jeffrey Epstein's high-flying mixing and mingling with zillionaires, but apparently the two shared something important: an appreciation for little girls. That's the news from a New York Times investigation that hit our screens today, and it's astonishing.

Is it a good thing that we can still be shocked and appalled? Because we're shocked and appalled. So are a lot of other folks, who are rushing to cancel the annual parades and celebrations that were scheduled for Chavez's birthday on March 31. Heck, in California and a few other states, Chavez's birthday is a state holiday, for crying out loud. (Note to Gavin Newsom: Yes, please change the name to something that salutes farm workers as a whole, not just their now-tarnished leader.)

And we haven't even mentioned the other part of the story, which is that Dolores Huerta — Chavez's partner in building the UFW, who has her own well-earned place in labor union history — has finally told the world that Chavez raped her twice and that she had children by him. You can't help but wonder how she felt when #MeToo exploded in 2017, because she's admitted today that she's realized there were others Chavez abused, and because of that she couldn't be silent anymore.

Well, good for Huerta, who is about to turn 96 and deserves to unburden herself. Still, it's heartbreaking to think that she had to hide all this for the sake of the farm worker movement. How many other Dolores Huertas are out there, in how many other political and social campaigns? It's unknowable, but disturbing to think about.

When we cats were kittens, we first realized who Cesar Chavez was when we saw him break bread with Bobby Kennedy to end his 1968 hunger strike. He seemed like someone from another plane of existence — a man who would sacrifice everything for the sake of the people he led. He's certainly come down to earth now.

At least, unlike the Trumpsters, we're willing to reassess our thinking when our heroes turn out to have feet of clay. (MAGA will never admit they've been duped by Donald.) But it still makes us HISS.

Happy St. Gertrude's Feast Day!

 

Did you think we forgot? (Happy St. Paddy's Day, too.) We cats PURR.

HIPAA Violation

 

By Zamboni

These two are simply horrible. No morals, no decency.

What was that? You thought that Trump's fundraising email with the photo of the dignified transfer of remains was as bad as he could get? Guess again — except this time, he has help from Preacher of the House Mikey Johnson, who is too simpering and sycophantic to object.

Donald Trump takes such pleasure in other people's misfortune. And he has absolutely no qualms about behaving like this with Susie Wiles sitting right next to him. You know Susie Wiles — the Chief of Staff who's just been diagnosed with breast cancer? Incredible. We cats HISS.