Okay, Happy Halloween Anyway.

We cats prefer to think of Halloween as it was when we were kittens — in other words, when it was innocent fun. Let's hope it can survive that way — or, if it can't, that we can somehow restore it. In anticipation of better days, we cats PURR.

The Party Of Willie Horton And "Harold, Call Me" Heads For The Fainting Couch

By Miss Kubelik

For all those right wingers and Republicans who are faux-outraged over this ad and demanding that Ralph Northam repudiate it: Forget it. There's nothing to repudiate. This is not Northam's ad.

And how interesting that someone who calls this "shameful" has posted it on YouTube so everyone can watch. Hm!

Finally, why is a kid's fictional-but-totally-believable nightmare more offensive than actual Tiki Torch parade? Just sayin'. We cats HISS.

If It's Monday, It Must Be Manafort

Paul Manafort and his business sidekick Rick Gates are the first two of what will no doubt be many indictments of the Trumpsters who helped a foreign adversary subvert the American electoral process.

Imagine John Podesta getting arrested for that. (See, you'd have to imagine it, because we Democrats are not traitors.) We cats PURR.

Roger & Us

By Baxter

Well, it's after 9 PM on the last Saturday of the World Series, and so far, no Saturday Night Massacre. Folks on Twitter had been speculating that Donald Trump would stage an SNM Redux tonight since CNN reported yesterday that Robert Mueller was bringing charges against somebody (or a bunch of somebodies) for something, come Monday. (Russia-related, of course. We're hearing Manafort. We shall see.)

In the meantime, cooler heads have pointed out that it's really too late for Trump to fire Mueller — at least, too late for him to do it without cataclysmic consequences. And so we wait. And savor tweets like the one above — which can never be retweeted enough, as far as we're concerned.

The other thing we can savor tonight: Roger Stone has been suspended from Twitter — perhaps permanently — thanks to a venomous tirade he went on last night. We're thinking that Roger's Oxy ran out and he tweeted while he was waiting for a fentanyl delivery. But whatever the cause, Twitter is far, far better without him. We cats PURR.

Outings That Dreams Are Made Of

By Zamboni

It looks like the floodgates have really opened on sexual harassment, abuse and assault — at the workplace, and in other places. We cats have been struck by the observation that the difference between Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump is that Weinstein's community rejected him. We're still waiting for the "MAGA" crowd to do the same.

It's also caught our attention that a certain former Republican President has been outed by four women now as a serial butt squeezer. Maybe this is one step down from pussy grabbing, but as pussies ourselves, we can testify that it's no less welcome. We've posed for pictures with President Jimmy Carter many times, and while he's been quick to slip a friendly arm around us, nothing untoward has ever occurred. (You're supposed to lust in your hearts, fellas.)

What bugs us the most about all this is that Republicans tend to lecture everyone else that they should be living saintly lives. So when they're outed as louts and curs, the humiliation should be double, no?

To that end, let's imagine some delicious scenarios in which hateful, soulless, judging members of the GOP get caught being naughty:

Paul Ryan is arrested for possessing child pornography.

A gay prostitute plays patty-cake with Roy Moore — with photos.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has a lesbian affair. (Mitch McConnell, naturally, says nothing.)

Steve Bannon tries to skip out on a bill at Hooters and gets beaten to death by a mob of angry, big-busted servers.

These things could happen! Because Republicans are — what's the word? — finger-wagging hypocrites. We cats PURR.

Happy Birthday, Hillary Clinton!

May only joy and good memories lift you up today. We cats PURR.

(UPDATE: Looks like lots of people called the White House to send birthday greetings to our legitimate President. Fun!)

Hey, George H.W. Bush: Pat THIS!

"At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the President routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.

"Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely."

Madam President

By Sniffles

We cats are nocturnal creatures, so we don't mind taking a few moments before bedtime to report on Hillary Clinton's appearance in Montreal tonight.

Yes, Secretary Clinton did fracture her foot recently, and so she did take time to both come onstage and to rise from her chair after the Q&A. The right-wing nutcases over at Infowars have been spinning vast conspiracy theories about that for days now.

But the crowd of 3,500 of Hillary's closest Montreal friends couldn't have cared less. They cheered for her like — well, like she was President. Which in their minds — since she won 3 million more votes than Drumpf did — she was.

Did Hillary scare us about Russia? Yes, she did. The Russian disinformation campaign in this new Cold War is still going on. And there's no guarantee that the US electoral system in 2018 and beyond will be free and fair. Certainly this Administration is taking no steps to ensure it is.

Why was the pro-Trump, anti-Clinton disinformation successful? Because, Hillary said, "If you're peddling what you position as a 'secret,' people will believe that more than they'll believe what they see and hear for themselves." So okay, that explains Comet Ping Pong — and maybe a little bit more. Consider our eyes opened.

We cats HISS at Trump voters who live in their own strange little world — and we PURR forever in the direction of Hillary Clinton, who omigosh we wish lived in the White House now.

Lest We Furr-get: How To Handle A Terror Attack

By Miss Kubelik

This is the third anniversary of the 2014 terrorist attack in Ottawa. A soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown was killed, and the gunman was later shot dead in Parliament. (This is the soldier — Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Gosh, he was gorgeous, wasn't he?)

And how did Canada react? Well, we can tell you that it didn't lose its mind. It didn't fly flags from every doorstep, protest against mosques in neighborhoods, or warn citizens to "watch what they do, watch what they say." Canadians quietly supported one another — as quietly as they observed the anniversary today. These are good things.

So okay, Bill 62 in Quebec is a step back. But we have faith that Canadian reason will prevail. That's the national character you get when your country values and welcomes all people. We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: The Sunday Before Hillary Edition

By Baxter

We cats are looking forward to seeing Hillary Clinton tomorrow night as she brings her What Happened book tour to Montreal. Meanwhile, we have some bite-sized thoughts and observations on the news of the day.

It's been a couple of weeks since the Harvey Weinstein nightmare broke. A lot of Republican opportunists have jumped on the blame-the-left bandwagon and demanded that prominent Democrats disavow Weinsten and even return his money. Well! We cats just have one question for the Tucker Carlsons (and other hypocrites) of the world: Why is it taking you so long to condemn Bill O'Reilly and FOX "News"?

Did you know that today is the second anniversary of Secretary Clinton's marathon 11-hour testimony to Congress on Benghazi? History will record that Shiny Trey Gowdy and his merry band of hapless conspiracy-mongers were unable to lay a glove on her. But gee... was it that that made them realize they'd need Vladimir Putin's help to defeat her? Or did the treason start even before then?

Speaking of Benghazi, we'd just like to point out that while Niger casualty and latest American hero La David Johnson was laid to rest in South Florida yesterday, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson was at the services — and Trump was golfing.

Finally, wow — did you see the five former Presidents at the hurricane fundraiser this weekend? We aren't so sure about the condition of Bush Senior, and George W. couldn't seem to refrain from smirking even during the national anthem. (Waiting for Trump to furiously tweet about that.) But gosh — our Democratic former Presidents are looking fantastic! Especially Jimmy Carter, who at 93 seems destined to reach his cherished goal of outliving the last guinea worm. We cats PURR.

Repair Job

If it can't be her, it must fall to the rest of us. Let's get to work.

Lock Them Up!

By Zamboni

We already know that Republican State Representative Betty Price's inquiries as to whether HIV-positive people can be quarantined is repugnant and hateful. And it reveals that even the wife of the disgraced former HHS Secretary doesn't know the difference between infectious and contagious. As Bugs Bunny would say, what a maroon.

But you know what's funny about it?

It seems that most of those quarantined will be in Trump Country.

Sorry, Republicans! Your voters won't be able to make it to the polls because they're under house arrest. We cats PURR.

Face-Off In Montreal

By Sniffles

As we cats have noted, the right wingers, Trumpsters and Republicans have landed on Congresswoman Frederica Wilson like a duck on a June bug, making fun of her hats.

Even protofascists like Sheriff David Clarke — who is known for wearing flamboyant headwear himself — has jumped on the bandwagon. But we're sorry to report that men obsessed with what women wear are not confined to areas south of the 49th Parallel.

The National Assembly of Quebec just voted to ban women wearing niqabs from receiving public services. Which means they can't even ride a bus without uncovering their faces.

This Bill 62 is inherently wrong. We cats do not approve of niqabs or burkas or any belief systems that dictate that women should wear them. But an open, diverse, liberal democracy should be able to tolerate all forms of silly dress. Or, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it, "I don't think it's the government's business to tell a woman what she should or shouldn't be wearing."

Take it from us — we've seen outfits on the streets of Outremont in Montreal that are sillier than burkas. But it would never cross our minds in a million years to tell the devout Orthodox Jews running around in them that they have to take them off. And it's pretty lame that a legislative body that meets in a room with a freaking crucifix on the wall should get all umbrage-y about other people's religions.

Meanwhile, a bright spot: Non-Muslim women, offended by the law, demonstrated at Montreal buses today with their faces covered. We love this. And we can't wait until Halloween. We cats PURR.

This Should Rub The GOP The Wrong Way

By Miss Kubelik

In case you were ever in doubt about Republicans' disregard for the concept of public service, wonder no more: Pat Tiberi, a nine-term, white male GOP Congressman from Ohio, is not only not running for re-election in 2018, he says he'll resign by January.

See, he's gotten a real job — or what to him is a real job — at the Ohio Business Roundtable. So his constituents be damned.

We doubt that his seat comes into play — it's a pretty Republican district. But it means that the GOP will have to hold an expensive special-election primary to pick the next white male. So, good.

But we have to ask: Nine terms? Didn't Newt Gingrich used to say there should be no more than six? We cats HISS.

Hats Off To Frederica Wilson

By Baxter

We cats knew it would just be a matter of nanoseconds before someone on the Republican-right tried to brush off Congresswoman Frederica Wilson because of her hats.

And — yup! Ultra-right harridan hater Laura Ingraham has given it a shot. Called Representative Wilson a "nutbag," too.

We'd like to take this opportunity to remind all you young kittens out there that Congresswomen wearing distinctive hats has precedent. Bella Abzug started doing it because she was tired of people (mostly men) mistaking her for a secretary. So Laura Ingraham, who we hope is daily mistaken for something she's not, can take her comments about Representative Wilson and shove them.

Trump claims he has "proof" he didn't handle the call to Sergeant La David T. Johnson's widow the way Representative Wilson said he did. After which Wilson fired back at Trump: "How about you go get that proof and call me back?" We cats love that, and we PURR.

"Where Are All The Benghazi Patriots Now?"

Trump's idea of comforting Green Beret La David Johnson's widow was to tell her that her husband "knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurts." We wonder how Trump would know, since he's a draft dodger who was golfing when Sergeant Johnson's body was retrieved.

As Mamie Van Doren — yep, that Mamie Van Doren — so accurately tweeted, "Trump is obsessed with jealousy over the memory and popularity of President Obama." Or maybe he's just an inhuman monster. We cats are almost too disgusted to HISS.

Slam Dunk

"I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never-ending divisiveness. But his comments...about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous Presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families are so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.

"This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner — and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers — is as low as it gets.

"We have a pathological liar in the White House, unfit intellectually, emotionally and psychologically to hold this office, and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed, because they know better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it."

—Gregg Popovich, Coach, San Antonio Spurs

Lest We Furr-get: They Called. They Wrote. They Showed Up.

By Zamboni

The malevolent sociopath who's fraudulently occupying the White House tried to lie today and say that President Obama and his predecessors didn't call or write the families of fallen service members. Thankfully, the world is bitch-slapping him for it.

We cats think it's a good time to remember that both the President and the Secretary of State were there to receive the coffins of the fallen from Benghazi. (Oh, and the Vice President, too.) Meanwhile, in the last 10 days since four American Special Forces soldiers were killed in Niger, Trump has been golfing. Five times.

Can we impeach him just for this?

Topsy-Turvy

We live in a time in which German soccer players kneel in solidarity with the NFL while in the US, Nazis and white supremacists march in Tiki Torch Brigades. Incredible.

A Tale Of Two Ads.

By Sniffles

It appears that two so-called establishment Republicans running for Governor this year have decided to run their campaigns out of the Trumpster playbook.

Chinless Ed Gillespie in Virginia — who is about as establishment as they come, having served in the George W. Smirky Administration and as chair of the Republican National Committee — is running an ad demonizing his Democratic opponent, Lt. Governor Ralph Northam, as the kind of guy who wants evil illegals to be able rape and pillage their way across the Old Dominion. 

Kim Guadagno, Chris Christie's hapless would-be successor in New Jersey, is on the air with a similar spot. In short, both Gillespie and Guadagno have chosen to try to stoke the Trumpian fires of white fear and resentment in an attempt to ride to victory.

Call us cats mildly surprised. We would have assumed that both Republican candidates would try to run to the center in their blue-slash-purple states. But they've decided otherwise — and in Gillespie's case, he's gone all-out pro-Confederate-statues, too, apparently trying to nail down the support of the Tiki Torch Brigade.

So we're wondering what's going on here. What makes Gillespie and Guadagno think that kowtowing to the narrow, evil Republican base will make them winners on November 7?

We can only think of one answer: Vladimir told them so. We cats HISS.

"He Would Look Actually Frightened"

Emma Thompson sums up the Harvey Weinstein situation.

Silence Of The Jerks (AND MEANWHILE, PEOPLE IN PUERTO RICO ARE DYING)

By Miss Kubelik

We cats have had our fill of right wingers who have screamed for the past week about how prominent Democrats should have known that Harvey Weinstein was harassing and abusing women — and how they never should have taken his political contributions. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and countless other Democrats... should have known!

(Why? From what we can tell, Weinstein completely behaved himself around politicos. For example, there's no record that he tried anything with Hillary Clinton, so... We're just sayin'.)

Note to Republicans: WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT CONGRESSMAN TIM MURPHY??

As in, Tim Murphy's behavior is a lot worse than "just" fearing that he got a lover pregnant and then encouraged her to have an abortion. Tim Murphy's Congressional office was absolutely, positively hell — and EVERYBODY ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE KNEW IT.

The latest reports indicate that Murphy terrorized young staffers into staying in his employ lest he force them to repay their college loans. We cats call this total abuse. And apparently the word around Capitol Hill was that working for Murphy was hell on earth. In other words, as we just said, EVERYBODY KNEW!

When will the righteous Republicans be hoisted on their own petards? — when we Democrats have the balls to do it. So we cats call the GOP on its Weinstein hypocrisy, and we PURR.

P.S. To further demonstrate the moral vacuum in the GOP: Only 16 percent of the island of Puerto Rico has power, and many US citizens in Puerto Rico are dying of easily preventable bacterial infections. Trump should be impeached for this alone. Congress, you must act.

Ryan Zinke Thinks He's The Queen Of England

By Baxter

Perhaps you remember it actually happening — or maybe you just saw it in the Helen Mirren movie "The Queen" — but Elizabeth II faced a storm of controversy in 1997 when she did not fly the royal standard over Buckingham Palace after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

That's because the Queen was hewing to tradition, which called for the standard to be raised only when she was in residence. She was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the time.

Well, much has changed — but the ever-execrable Ryan Zinke, former Congressman and now an Interior Secretary in a bit of hot water himself, has decided to style himself royal anyway. He flies his secretarial flag when he's in DC!

First, who knew that such a rag existed? Second, who does this guy think he is? Wait, we know.

Hey, Trump voters: Don't ever tell us that this crowd you and the Russians elected are for common folk like you. Their pretensions — like their policies — make us hack up a hairball. We cats HISS.

Happy Birthday, E.R.

By Zamboni

Today we observe the birth of one of America's and the world's great women, First Ladies, leaders, authors and humanitarians. And boy, if she were around today, would Eleanor Roosevelt be pissed. We cats PURR in her direction anyway.

Lest We Furr-get: Why Colin Knelt

By Sniffles

We cats are not football fans, and one of the reasons is the suffocatingly militaristic faux-patriotism that organizations like the NFL shove down our throats. All sports are guilty of this, although hockey, we believe, is less so. At least hockey doesn't have cheerleaders, either.

So we're completely not surprised that Roger Goodell and his zillionaire bosses are turning coat and demanding now that their players stop taking knees during the national anthem. We'll be interested to see how the players react — especially since, at the same time, ESPN has decided to punish a black sportscaster for suggesting that the sponsors of the Dallas Cowboys and the team's right-right-right-wing owner Jerry Jones should be boycotted.

While this latest kerfuffle was ginned up by the sociopath in the White House, everyone seems to be forgetting that the reason Colin Kaepernik started kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner was because he was disgusted and repelled by video after video of African-American men getting murdered by police. Yep, murdered. And then the killers getting off scot-free.

Well, we cats are sick of it, too. And sick of people like Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones, who have no idea what it's like to be black, stopped by a cop, and wonder if they'll get home alive.

And you know what? We're sick of the freaking national anthem, too. The only reason it's played before games today is because of a tradition that kicked off back in World War II — probably by event organizers hoping to sell more war bonds. It should have been left in the dust after that, but somehow we've ended up stuck with it. And our irritation is exacerbated by the facts that 1) it was originally a ridiculous British drinking song, 2) performers by and large sing it badly, and 3) Francis Scott Key was a terrible racist.

So, NFL players, keep taking those knees. And why not hum a few bars of "O Canada" to yourself at the same time? After all, it's a much better song. We cats HISS.

Primary Challenge, Hiding In Plain Sight

By Miss Kubelik

Any reasonable person could come to the conclusion today that Bob "Harold, Call Me" Corker is running for President. In 2020.

Or at least way seriously thinking about it. Especially since we know the following:

Corker is known to have considered running in 2016, was a possible Vice President for any GOP nominee, and was, despite Donald Trump's lies, a candidate for Secretary of State. So national ambitions have precedent here.

Trump's behavior is also of note. The White House has surely been busy gaming out 2020 challengers on the Republican side, and Trump was the one who picked this ridiculous fight. Once he did, Corker didn't hesitate to punch back, hard. It made us think that he plans to spend the next three years — assuming Trump lasts that long — doing more of the same.

See, it's easier to take swipes at Trump without having to explain a close loss in the 2018 Senate primary to some right-wing, knuckle-dragging Neanderthal (which you know Steve Bannon would have moved heaven and earth to make happen). It's also easier without having to record votes on dozens of litmus-test Senate votes that both the far right and the Democrats will force on GOP Presidential and Congressional candidates. And it's easier to do without being at the mercy of a possible Democratic Senate majority come 2019. (Yes, we know the chances of that are slim, but it could happen.)

Question: Has any political reporter looked at Corker's FEC reports to see how much is in his Senate re-elect fund that he could transfer to a Presidential campaign for a jump-start? Three months ago, he had $6.6 million. We cats switch our tails, and wait.

Canceled Christmas

By Baxter

We cats had to have Wayne LaPierre's "Christmas tree" comment explained to us today. We just couldn't imagine what in the world a tannenbaum had to do with innocent people getting mowed down by automatic rifle fire at a music concert.

But now we get it: LaPierre was saying that the gun haters of America are going to take advantage of the public outrage over a guy exercising his Second Amendment rights from a Las Vegas hotel tower to load up a bump-stock-banning Congressional bill like a — well, you know the rest.

Okay, Wayney Boy, you wanna talk Christmas? Let's talk Christmas.

We can think of close to 60 families who had somebody at that concert last weekend and who probably won't be having much of a joyous holiday season this year. Not to mention the 500 other families who will experience a rehab-and-recovery Yuletide, with not much more to celebrate than that a bullet missed a vital organ, artery or spine by a fraction of an inch.

As for Christopher Cox, that other NRA jackass, his "We don't believe bans ever worked on anything" statement is laugh-and-throw-up-at-the-same-time funny — considering how much the Republicans have tried to ban abortion and birth control lately. We cats HISS.

Cat Fight! Adult Daycare Inmate Versus Senator With Good Twitter Writers

By Zamboni

We cats are no fans of Bob Corker (and his racist "Harold — call me" campaign ad), so our hearts aren't exactly breaking that the crazy and unhinged occupant of the Oval Office is going after him today.

"Corker 'begged' me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee," Donald Trump claimed on the Twitter Thing this morning. "I said 'NO' and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement)." Really?? Hm! We'd like to hear Luther Strange, Mitch McConnell, the US Chamber of Commerce — and the rest of the Republican establishment that threw tons of money at Big Luther in the Alabama Senate primary — speak to the value of a Trump endorsement.

We are worried, though, about the hollowing out of the State Department. Will anyone in the media mention that all those empty slots at State have to go through a committee that Corker chairs?

Meanwhile, Jeff Flake and Dean Heller, we hope you're taking notes. This Administration is a nightmare from which we fear America will never wake. We cats HISS.

Still At It.

By Sniffles

We don't know why the Republicans are so against Americans getting healthcare. But they are. They couldn't kill Obamacare in Congress, so like the vengeful spoiled brats they are, they're continuing to do everything they can to undermine it.

Refusing to publicize Open Enrollment is just one way they're throwing their Obamacare temper tantrum. So if you're on social media, please help spread the word — because your government (or at least, the sorry-ass version of it that we've got now) won't do it. We cats HISS.

Murphy Aborts His Career

By Miss Kubelik

Looking for a pick-me-up on an otherwise dismal news day? Here's one: Republican Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has abruptly decided not to run for re-election next year.

These things happen when a pro-lifer gets caught urging his mistress to have an abortion.

Goodness gracious, but this story is just chock-full of fun. First, Murphy is — like so many of these straying right wingers and Bible bangers — physically repulsive, so you wonder how any woman in her right mind would consent to making whoopee with him. Then of course there's his rank hypocrisy on choice: Gosh, just last night he voted to outlaw abortion after 20 weeks.

And then there's the image of the ever-loathsome Paul Ryan, who is already beset with members who are declining to run, having to deal with another crash-and-burn for 2018. And the 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania is home to 70,000 more Democrats than Republicans these days. We're not saying it's a slam-dunk for us, but we're happy any time Paul Ryan's life is made more difficult. Yay!

Our only regret? That Murphy's mistress wasn't really pregnant and didn't actually exercise her Constitutional right to choose. Witnessing another woman freely determining her reproductive destiny would have been an unexpectedly happy ending to an otherwise vomit-inducing tale. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

UPDATE: Murphy is resigning this month. Big surprise (not). We didn't think he would last till next fall. But here's a disgusting piece of news via POLITICO: Democrats didn't even put a candidate up against this hypocritical jackass the last two elections?? Shame on us! If there's one thing that the Murphy saga reminds us, it's that lightning can strike at any time. We cats HISS.

What's Worse Than "Warmest Condolences"? This.

By Baxter

As if Donald Trump making a fool of himself in Puerto Rico today wasn't enough, we headline-hunters were inflicted with this little gem this afternoon: A Jewish bakery in Boro Park, Brooklyn, has received a lovely piece of mail. (That was sarcasm. See above.)

We cats don't like its language, but we needed to post it so that our faithful readers could see how tightly entwined Trumpism is with hate.

It's all par for the course these days, isn't it? After all, today 13 member countries in the UN voted against a ban on the death penalty for being gay — and the United States was one of them. Oh, sigh. Where can we hide? We cats HISS.

Words To Outlaw After A Gun Massacre

By Zamboni

We cats are getting to the point where we think the First Amendment ought to be suspended after an NRA rampage. (Yep, we blame the NRA for last night's mass killing in Las Vegas.) Well, okay, not the entire First Amendment. Just stuff like this:

"Thoughts and prayers" — We are sick, sick, SICK of this phrase. We are sending no thoughts and no prayers. And by the way, no money. We'll send thoughts, prayers and money after Congress enacts sensible gun-control legislation.

"This is not the time to politicize [blank]" — Republicans can go shove this statement up their asses. Not just at all times, but especially after mass shootings.

"Pure evil" — There have been so many killings, and "evil" has been used so much, that it's lost its meaning. Find a different word.

"Warmest condolences" — Whaaa? This Trumpy tweet struck us as mighty odd, and Adam Gopnik at The New Yorker agreed. Somebody needs to put Obama's post-Pulse statement opposite Trump's this morning and analyze them for syntax, reading level, vocabulary, etc.

"Gun show" — Not just the phrase. The shows themselves. Meanwhile, we cats are hacking up multiple hairballs, and we HISS.

39 Turns 93

By Sniffles

President Carter once said that he'd like to outlive the guinea worm. On this, his 93rd birthday, it looks like he just might. The number of guinea worm disease cases worldwide is down to 10 — all in Chad. (In case you're wondering, it started at 3.5 million in 1986 when The Carter Center began its eradication campaign.)

Way to go, Jimmy! And happy birthday. We cats PURR.