Oliver! 1934-2026

By Hubie and Bertie

This is not a music blog, but we cats would be remiss if we didn't note the passing today of the great Oliver Jones, Montreal jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

He was taught piano by Oscar Peterson's sister. And he learned it well — Jones's touch on the keyboard was so delicate and beautiful that it was recognizable to those with a sensitive ear. We flatter ourselves that we could pick him out on a jazz recording, if we didn't already know.

Jones was born in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighborhood. Murals honoring him already abound there. We hope that city flags fly at half-staff, and that the lights at Place des Arts and other downtown locations dim in his honor. It's the least Montreal can do. We cats PURR.

The Show That Should Not Go On

By Miss Kubelik

Remember those subpoenas that Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice sent to New York Times reporters and their families? As Gilda Radner would say, never mind. They've been withdrawn.

That's because US District Judge Arun Subramanian raked prosecutors over the coals today, telling them that if they didn't take the subpoenas back, he would quash them. Team Blanche bleated and moaned for an hour or so, but finally cried uncle and withdrew.

The Times's sin? Reporting on a matter of national security. That is, that Trump had been flying around on a Qatari "Air Force One" that was seriously lacking in defensive capabilities. Don't get us wrong — we couldn't care less about Benedict Donald's safety and well-being. We just believe that the President of the United States should be protected when he flies. It's the patriotic way to be. 

And clearly, the Trumpsters agreed, because they quickly flew the old, non-Qatari Air Force One overseas to fetch Trump back from his foreign travels, making up a lame story about how "the troops" wanted to see the new jet, and you know, he just couldn't deny them. What a crock. And now, Trump says the Qatari jet is going to be "maxed out." What, like a credit card? We don't get it.

Anyway. It's still ironic that the DOJ took such umbrage, subpoenaing not only the Times journalists but their spouses. Richard Nixon and John Mitchell must be spinning in hell in jealousy. And please note that the person who signed the subpoenas was Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton — you know, that DNI nominee whom Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff destroyed in a hearing last week?

Sickeningly, it appears that the "replacement" White House Correspondents Dinner, which was arranged after the original one erupted in gunfire or something, is still set for tomorrow night, with Benedict Donald as the "honored guest." God help us. One WHCD a year is bad enough, but two — and for someone like Trump? Ugh.

A group of 500 journalists has sent a letter to the Correspondents Association, urging everyone to get into Donald's face and defend press freedom, and not just spend the dinner twiddling their forks and pretending that Trump is normal. Yeah, like that will happen. The dinner is being run by Weijia Jang, White House correspondent for — wait for it — CBS News, so it's unlikely that she'll want to annoy her boss, the notoriously Donald-friendly Bari Weiss.

The rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner, like the DOJ New York Times subpoenas, is a deception and a Trump-era sham. We cats won't be watching, and we HISS.

(IMAGE: The scene at the WHCD in April. Looks like fun, doesn't it?)

Photobomb

IYKYK. We cats PURR.

MAGAts In A Muddle

By Zamboni

Republicans are quickly appropriating the tired old saw, "Democrats in disarray." But do folks in the media realize it? Or are they just unwilling to tell the truth about the GOP because it isn't alliterative?

If Democrats are in disarray, please explain why they were able to resolve a huge mess in Maine in less than two weeks. (Troy Jackson sewed up Graham Platner's former Senate nomination over the weekend, as potential challengers Nirav Shah, Shenna Bellows, Jordan Wood, and Dan Kleban dropped out.)

And if Republicans are not in disarray, how do you excuse what's going on in South Carolina? 

Lindsey Graham suddenly dies on July 11, and Benedict Donald commands the Governor to appoint Graham's sister, an inexperienced, toothless puppet. Less than a week later, Trump instructs her to not just serve as caretaker in the seat but run for a full term. But two already-announced Trump loyalists are refusing to drop their bids. In fact, they may be joined tomorrow (it's filing day) by local luminaries like Mark "Appalachian Trail" Sanford and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. 

Right, everything is going to plan here (not).

But it's our party that's the mess? We cats HISS.

Andrew Tate's "Fashion Don't." Trump's "Get The Hook" Moment.

By Baxter

You know it's a pretty okay weekend when these two things happen:

Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Miami yesterday on new charges of rape, sex trafficking, and possession of child pornography. Decent people everywhere are rooting for their extradition to the UK. Meanwhile, social media relentlessly mocked Andrew's attire.

As if that weren't delicious enough, Spain won the World Cup today, denying Donald Trump an opportunity to present the Cup to the country of one of his favorite dictators. Then, "when the US president and Gianni Infantino came on to the field for the presentation after Spain clinched victory, boos rang out around the stadium," The Guardian said. "The White House pool report said that ambient crowd noise, which had been sitting at approximately 78 decibels before their introduction, rose to 84 decibels when Trump entered the field.

"Then, after Trump presented Spain with the World Cup trophy, he attempted to stand with the team at the side of the podium as they celebrated before Infantino quietly ushered him away." We cats PURR.

Tweets We Wish We'd Written

Oh, this is so good. We cats PURR.

Smoke Gets In Our Eyes

By Sniffles

Before we get into tonight's topic, let's just back up one second to observe that wildfires are burning not just in Ontario, but in Michigan, too. The problem is that it's kind of hard to tell Canadian wildfire smoke from American wildfire smoke. But Benedict Donald doesn't care.

"The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air," Trump bleated (when he wasn't indulging in endless whines about the 2020 election — which means we now should mention that NBC, ABC, and CNN declined to air him last night).

Trump has latched on to the wildfires as another excuse to threaten tariffs against our Neighbor to the North. Canadians must be awfully tired of all this. After all, they're dealing with the smoke, too (see above). Let's just say that, if they're drowning their sorrows in their air-conditioned homes, they're not doing it with American spirits and wines — since Trump has given them absolutely no reason to abandon their boycotts of US goods.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who's been running rings around Benedict Donald recently on trade matters, had a mild but firm response to Washington's bluster. "Climate change is the responsibility of everyone," he said, after drily noting that the US has reduced its investment in clean energy. "Truly everyone — including the United States."

Donald is looking awfully tired and limp these days. During his little-watched "election fraud" speech last night, he sounded raspy and unfocused, as if he'd spent an afternoon breathing in Ontario smoke. People have speculated that his lungs are filling with fluid from CHF. We have no idea, but we're less worried about Trump than about his true-believers who will try to enforce his fascism after he is gone.

It'll take a lot to recover from the damage of Trump 2.0, but it will all start this November. In the words of Joyce White Vance, "Your vote matters. Prepare to do whatever it takes this fall to cast it. Let’s put a stop to the lies once and for all." We cats PURR.

(PHOTO: Evan Buhler, Montreal Gazette)

Target: Jon (And You)

By Hubie and Bertie

So Trump is speaking to the nation tomorrow night about — what, exactly? Iran? Greenland? Election security? A "potpourri"? We have no idea. But rumor has it that he's going to "reveal declassified intelligence" on 2020 "election fraud" in Georgia, and call duly elected US Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff "illegitimate."

This will be Trump's newest salvo in his war against the 2026 midterms, which he knows he's going to lose. But it's not going to work, for lots of reasons. One, for us, sticks out.

First, for a little refresher course, let's step back a few years to the resignation of Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, who stepped down in late 2019 due to health reasons. Governor Brian Kemp then appointed Kelly Loeffler to serve the remainder of Isakson's term. Loeffler was an ineffective doofus who was primarily known for her good hair. (She's head of the SBA now, and is currently stinking up the place with her performance there, too, as you'd expect.)

Anyway, Raphael Warnock beat Loeffler in the special election runoff on January 5, 2021 — the same day that Jon Ossoff beat Georgia's other Senator, David Perdue. That election flipped the Senate to the Democrats. (And we all know what happened on January 6.)

The thing is, though, after that, Warnock ran for a full term in 2022, and he won — so how by any logic could he possibly be "illegitimate"? It also means he won't be up for re-election again until 2028. By our way of thinking, then, Trump's targeting of Warnock and Ossoff is really mostly about Ossoff, who is on the ballot this fall. 

Despite Kellyanne Conway's mocking tweet back in 2017, Trump and the Republicans are scared of Ossoff — big time. And Ossoff's masterful performance during the Jay Clayton/DNI hearing today will only increase their fear (that, and the margin by which Ossoff leads the hapless, election-denying fool Mike Collins in recent polls).

Here's a swell idea that applies to both Georgia Senators: The moment Trump starts speaking tomorrow night, go to Ossoff's site (and Warnock's site) and send each of them a few bucks. Make a statement. Tell Trump you won't let him deny Georgians' votes — and yours. We cats PURR.

Cartography

  

The photo that Benedict Donald shared earlier on social media was AI-generated, and, as you can imagine, ridiculous. We won't repost it here, but it involved a nonexistent meeting in the Oval Office and a silly map. In short, he's back on that annexation train again, which means Jon Ossoff is right: Trump is spiraling. Here's a map that's much more accurate. We cats PURR.

Keep Cool

Benedict Donald is descending into new levels of madness (how scared is he of Warnock and Ossoff?), but you don't have to care. It's too hot, anyway. So put the phone down, fix a cold drink, and put on some music. The news will still be there when you get back. We cats PURR.