Oliver!

 

By Baxter

So this is the best funeral urn we've ever seen. Jazz legend Oliver Jones was honored with a public viewing at Montreal's Hall of Honor yesterday, and if we cats had been in town, we would have tried to attend.

Jones's touch on the keyboard was special and gentle — hard to describe. You just have to listen to it. He championed other jazz musicians' careers, as Oscar Peterson and Daisy Peterson Sweeney championed his. And he knew that the best way to keep jazz going was to nurture up-and-coming talent.

It was good to see Montreal's mayor attend Jones's tribute at City Hall, because he was truly a cultural icon of a vibrant, international metropolis. Oliver, your gift will live forever. We cats PURR.

(IMAGES: Evan Buhler, Montreal Gazette)

De Adder Du Jour: Darline Edition

 

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)

Tidbits And Cat Treats: More GOP Travails Edition

By Sniffles

Big primary day yesterday, among other events. Here are some news items that have gotten our attention today.

Darline Graham Nordone may have made a fatal mistake in last night's South Carolina Senate debate ("I'm not that informed on national security"). Now everyone's knickers are in a twist about it. But the reason for the uproar is unclear. If Nordone's just going to be a Trump cipher in the Senate, why does she need to know anything about policy? She's supposed to just show up and vote any way Trump wants. Still, with this gaffe she's suddenly looking more like the placeholder that fate initially meant her to be.

People are agog at Angie Nixon's primary win in Florida — or, should we say, Alex Vindman's surprise but apparently deserved loss — but what really got our attention was Alaska, where there's a much more competitive Senate race. Democrat Mary Peltola was the leading vote-getter in that ranked-choice primary, beating incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan by six percent. (The top four candidates will advance — root for the other Dan Sullivan to make the cut!) The Republicans also are shut out of the governor's race — incredible. With 80 percent of the vote in, we'll keep tabs on this one.

Donald's endorsements are getting less and less valuable on the Republican side. Three of his candidates lost yesterday: Megan Degenfelder in Wyoming, and Catalina Lauf and Cory Mills in Florida. Did Natalie have the heart to break it to him? LOL

Finally, US debt has officially hit $40 trillion. If any Reagan Republicans are still around, this news will have them hacking up endless hairballs. And as for all those GOP think tanks that screamed about the horrors of budget deficits and debt for two generations — and who now bend the knee to Trump? Shame on them, and on the mainstream media for platforming them for all these years. We cats HISS.

Elvis Is Still In The Building

No, not that Elvis — he died in 1977. This Elvis. Bill Clinton turned 80 today. Happy birthday, Mr. President! We cats PURR.

The Method Behind The Mention

By Hubie and Bertie

We're not trying to turn this into a Jon Ossoff blog, honest! But the Senator from Georgia keeps popping up in the headlines — at least until today's primary results start rolling in.

This is completely okay, by the way. Ossoff is so easy on the eyes that it's totes cool to have more opportunities to post more photos of him. And the fact that he's driving the Trumpsters crazy is a real bonus.

According to Rick Wilson, Ossoff's "Natalie" speech on Sunday "put the White House into a screaming panic." Adam Kinzinger observed that Team Donald was "big maddddd." The right-wing media have kept up the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth — maybe because Ossoff has followed up by making the rounds on TV to expound further on his now-famous Natalie Name-Check. (Seems like kind of an overreaction to us, but then, everything is a veiled confession with these folks.)

People are speculating that Ossoff is laying the groundwork for a 2028 run for President. But as we (and he) have pointed out before, November 2026 and his Senate re-election come first.

Meanwhile, though, we think that 2028 aside, Ossoff's "Natalie" comment was brilliant for another reason: It was the way to break through the flooded zone and get the attention of low-information voters who may not realize how much Benedict Donald has corrupted and defiled the Presidency — and how much that corruption and defilement endangers the country. Mention a young, attractive blonde, and people will notice. Nice going, Senator. We cats PURR.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Jon Ossoff's "Travel With Natalie" Speech

 

By Miss Kubelik

All the speculation about Senator Jon Ossoff running for President in 2028 is fun, but we cats prefer not to indulge at this point. First, we need to get him re-elected to the Senate in November. Second, Democrats have a deep bench, with lots of folks interested in making a run. But we will confess that Ossoff is currently our favorite.

The excitement around him is palpable. And he was mentored by the late, great John Lewis. That's enough for us.

Some in the corporate media appear to be heading for the fainting couch over a few of Ossoff's comments. Ridiculous and maddening. People are sick of Trump and hungry for a fighter. Besides, what has Donald been doing for the last 10 years? Belittling and insulting people and giving them stupid names. Are any journalists noting that while Trump can dish it out, he sure can't take it? Probably not, but Trump's thin-skinned response is still pretty amusing. We cats PURR.

De Adder Du Jour: Wheels

  

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)

Give Hoekstra The Hook

By Zamboni

Canadian disgust with Donald Trump is still going strong. While Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been hinting that he could restore US alcohol to his province's shelves under certain conditions — spoiler alert, Doug, Canadians still won't buy it — a new front has opened up on the "We Used to Like You but Now We Hate You" war.

More than 171,000 Canadians have signed a petition to toss Trump's odious US ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, from the country. This is a lot when you consider that an online petition only needs 500 signatures to be officially considered by the House of Commons.

Good on you, Canada! Hoekstra has been a particularly disturbing ambassador. Not only has he made careless and insulting comments about US-Canadian relations — supporting Benedict Donald's "51st state" nonsense, for example — he has ties to leaders in the Alberta separatist movement. Why should Canada tolerate a US ambassador who is possibly fomenting the dissolution of their country behind the scenes? The US wouldn't stand for it. Why should they?

Add to that the fact that Hoekstra is an asshole, and we wholeheartedly endorse this movement — even though it could put Prime Minister Mark Carney in a dicey spot. (We're confident that he could find a clever, Trump-frustrating way to handle it.) Meanwhile, we cats PURR.

Constantino's Behind, Elsie's AWOL

By Baxter

The Congressional campaign of Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino — not to mention the candidate himself — is very unhappy with a recent poll from Survey USA and WNYT Channel 13 that shows Democrat Blake Gendebien four points ahead of Constantino in NY-21.

Wait! Red alert! NY-21 is Elise "Elsie" Stefanik's near-solid-Republican district. The Democrat is ahead? Wow! No wonder the DCCC recently added the district to its strategic "Red to Blue" list for 2026.

Meanwhile, Team Constantino is busy attacking the poll.

"This should be illegal and WNYT13 should be swiftly reprimanded by the FCC to the fullest extent possible,” Constantino tweeted. “This 'story' is a clear violation of journalistic ethics and (an) example of rampant political corruption." Former Stefanik campaign aide Alex deGrasse, now working for Constantino, huffed that the poll was "completely fraudulent" and a "scam." A scam!

Oh, sigh. They're so desperate and dumb. Survey USA is a leans-Republican polling firm — no friend to Democrats. But since Channel 13 is one of the local stations not owned by a right-wing broadcast group, that seems to explain Constantino's bleating about finking them out to the FCC. Even though it's extraordinarily silly.

So, where's Elsie? Why isn't she out campaigning for her party's nominee? Was she a secret Robert Smullen supporter in the primary? Has she lost interest? Will any intrepid reporter even bother to ask her about all this? Yeah, right. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Missed The Solar Eclipse? Here You Go.

We cats witnessed the amazing eclipse in April of 2024, but we still wish we could have seen the one today. Let's PURR anyway.