Bully In The Bully Pulpit

By Baxter

Yes, we know that anti-Semitism (or, at least, people's comfort level with openly expressing it) is on the rise around the world. Right now, though, we're concerned with what's going on in our own back yard: the US and Canada.

The Anti-Defamation League reports that 1,879 incidents of anti-Semitic hassling, vandalizing and outright assaulting took place in the United States in 2018 — a slight improvement over 2017, which saw 1,986 such events occur. But that's cold comfort since last year's total was the third-highest since the 1970s.

And for anyone who thinks that our Neighbor to the North is more civilized than we are, head's up: Anti-Semitic incidents are at record highs. The League for Human Rights, a branch of B'nai Brith Canada, tracked 2,041 of them, with 709 of them in Quebec alone.

Why is this happening? It's probably best not to indulge in pat answers, because many factors could be at play. But we completely blame Bigot-in-Chief Donald Trump, who has legitimized the lunatic fringe's hateful views and emboldened them to act on them.

It really does make a difference what the voices with the biggest bullhorns say. Just ask the 800,000 victims of the Rwandan genocide, who were tagged as "cockroaches" and worse by their tribal enemies. We cats long for the day when incendiary rhetoric no longer flows from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and we HISS.

Worst. Ever.

By Miss Kubelik

Once again, Donald Trump and his nutcase followers have managed to inject a crazy idea into the mainstream, and it could very well get somebody killed.

Trump must have been feeling under the gun at last night's "show" in Green Bay — either from the death of Wisconsin dairy farming (thanks to his tariffs) or from the pressure from Capitol Hill Democrats in the wake of the Mueller report. Whatever the reason, he decided to accuse doctors and nurses of "executing babies."

Here are the facts: Almost no aborted fetuses are born alive. What does happen, however, is that babies can be born with a terminal prenatal diagnosis, putting the parents through the agonizing decision of administering comfort care only. That's when a hospital's bereavement team swings into action, providing both infant and family with love and support until the inevitable time of death. Often this is as hard on the nurses and physicians as it is on the moms and dads.

Tweeted one RN last night in response: "NO ONE ever, in any hospital, nor any mother who has just given birth, is conspiring with a doctor on whether or not to commit infanticide. This is perhaps one of the sickest accusations levied by this deranged dictator yet."

We agree. In fact, it's probably — and this is saying a lot — the worst thing Benedict Donald has ever done. How completely and utterly cruel he is, and how little he cares. We hope that no doctor or nurse will be murdered by a Trumpster because of this. We also hope the American experiment doesn't end with this lying sociopath, because it could. We cats HISS.

The Unimportance Of Being John Earnest

By Zamboni

A 19-year-old white guy who has published a hate manifesto on 8chan walked into a San Diego synagogue today and opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle, killing one and wounding three.

This happened on the very same day that the NRA, at its annual meeting, appears to be imploding. And one day after the racist sociopath in the White House defended his remarks about the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville ("very fine people").

The San Diego shooter, John Earnest, is in custody. But when can we issue an arrest warrant for Donald Trump, for inciting racists and haters to deadly violence? Asking for tens of millions of Americans who are fed up with this crap. We cats HISS.

Everything Old Is New Again

Melania spent her birthday ignored? Reminds us of something... but we can't quite put our paws on it. We cats PURR.

UPDATE: Wow, we've just learned something important! If you want to get a lot of feedback on Twitter, just post a photo like this — and get inundated by outraged Diana fans missing the point. (P.S. OTOH, nobody seems to like Melania. We cats PURR again.)

Hillary Backs The Slow Bleed

By Sniffles

HRC has a post-Mueller report op-ed in The Washington Post that's causing a lot of buzz. A few quick quotes and observations:

"Obviously, this is personal for me, and some may say I’m not the right messenger."

(No, Madam Secretary, you are absolutely the right messenger. You have impeachment experience  — in two Presidencies! — went up against Putin as Secretary of State, and had the 2016 election stolen from you. We cats call those solid credentials.)

"Congress should hold substantive hearings that build on the Mueller report and fill in its gaps, not jump straight to an up-or-down vote on impeachment. In 1998, the Republican-led House rushed to judgment. That was a mistake then and would be a mistake now."

(We are honored that Clinton apparently read and agrees with our blog post of Monday, April 22.)

"The President of the United States has proved himself unwilling to defend our nation from a clear and present danger...Unless he’s held accountable, the President may show even more disregard for the laws of the land and the obligations of his office. He will likely redouble his efforts to advance Putin’s agenda."

(WOW. Jaws should drop across America that someone could accurately say that about the occupant of the Oval Office. Benedict Donald is indeed an asset of a hostile foreign power, and Richard Nixon, Cold Warrior extraordinaire, is spinning in his grave. We cats HISS.)

Future Shocks

By Hubie and Bertie

While the press and punditheads breathlessly speculate on the Democrats' next steps in the wake of the censored Mueller Report, we're reminded of the damage that's already being done by the fact that Vladimir Putin threw the 2016 election to Benedict Donald. The Supreme Court, with the illegitimate justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, appears ready to add a citizenship question to the census.

We only hope that the 2020 census takers become familiar with the term civil disobedience. Would that work?

And if that's not bad enough, POTUS is sounding even more potted, tweeting that a Nobel laureate in economics is "stupid." What does Paul Krugman know? He's not President!

So we looked for some reassurances. We thought maybe we found it in Joe Lockhart, who has helpfully pointed out that if the Democrats just leave Trump in place, the GOP will go poof! and disappear. But we've been waiting a long time for the Republican Party to do just that, and instead they just keep getting worse. Unless...

Suppose we are able to toss Benedict Donald out on his fat ass in 2020. He won't go quietly. As Michael Cohen has speculated, he could refuse to cede power. But even if he does move out on January 20, 2021, he'll park his aforementioned large posterior over at FOX "News," where he'll seek nightly vengeance not only on President Kamala Harris (or whomever), but on the weak Republicans who stood meekly by and allowed the evil Democrats to defeat The Glorious Him.

If we can dodge a Constitutional crisis, that might be fun to watch. We cats PURR.

Hear, Hear

By Baxter

We cats are not distressed over the Democratic leadership team in the House stalling on impeachment hearings for now. Although we're sure tons of tweeps are rending their garments and gnashing their teeth.

Not us. We're into the slow bleed instead.

Yes, we're outraged by what we're reading in the Mueller report. (We look forward to an uncensored version so we can get outraged some more.) But when you're dealing with a President, you're dealing with two sides to the impeachment coin: the legal and the political.

Legally we have no doubts that Benedict Donald obstructed justice, and he should probably be impeached for his enthusiasm for Russia alone. We also assume that the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York (among other prosecutors) will make B.D. and his grifter/mobster family miserable for the rest of their natural lives.

But politically, all sorts of factors come into play as soon as you put the I-word in motion. You know the arguments, so we won't elaborate them here. But we're very interested in various House committees holding hearings: Judiciary, Intelligence, Oversight — there are a zillion threads to pull, so have at it, guys.

One word of advice: Take a page from the Trump branding playbook and refuse to call them impeachment hearings. They're just hearings. That could keep Benedict Donald from bleating, "They're impeaching me!" And with the thousands of ex-White House staffers out there who could testify, the revelations and the intrigue and the drip-drip will slide us right into November 2020. That will make us cats PURR.

UPDATE: And we're off! The House Judiciary Committee has just subpoenaed Don McGahn to testify in their first (non-)impeachment hearing. We cats will be watching, and we PURR.

While Sarah Lies, AOC Speaks Truth

We cats continue to be impressed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It's starting to make sense that the Republicans are so unnerved by her.

A Quickie: Too Tough For Trumpsters

So a dude has been arrested in Florida for making multiple threats against Democratic lawmakers, including Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Cory Booker — calling them the n-word, but more explicitly railing against them for "what you done [sic] on 9/11."

Do we think this lamebrain realizes that most of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis, George W. Bush's and Donald Trump's best friends? Oh, gosh — why do we even ask? We cats HISS.

Can Of Worms

By Zamboni

The censored Mueller Report came out today. (We refuse to say "redacted." It's too polite, too Inside-the-Beltway. And as Americans, we demand our rights to an unadulterated Mueller. Come on, BuzzFeed — or somebody — get a leaked copy of the whole thing, please.)

Anyway, here are some interesting things we learned:

In Huckabee Sanders speak, "countless" means "none."

Like everyone else who enters Benedict Donald's orbit, William Barr is garbage now.

Despite all of Barr's huffing and puffing, the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in plain view (and surely not-so-plain view).

Just three weeks ago, Trumpsters who had previously trashed Robert Mueller began praising him after Barr released his "summary." Now, they're back to trashing him. Jeez, make up your minds.

Bernie Sanders has a lot of 'splainin' to do.

Mueller referred a passel of ongoing criminal cases to other prosecutors. And more members of Congress are signing on to impeachment. If we were Benedict Donald and his merry band of traitors, we would not sleep well tonight.

In short, this is not the end. It's a whole new beginning. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

A Quickie: Our Plans For Tomorrow Morning

We cats will skip tomorrow's 9:30 AM "news conference" about the Fake-Barr-Summary-of-the-Mueller-Report, the original of which the Trumpsters do not want Americans to see. It is all a nefarious ruse, and our time will be better spent grooming, thank you. That is all.

Bad Form.

By Sniffles

There's a lot of re-litigating of 2016 going on on Twitter right now, and we cats couldn't be less interested. We mean, puh-leeze — if the last two years under Trump haven't taught us how bad things can get and how important it is that Democrats unite, what will, ya know?

So let's not fight among ourselves. However, let us definitely call out bad journalism when we see it.

Specifically, let's call out The New York Times for its embarrassing story today about Neera Tanden, CEO of the Center for American Progress. In attempting to foment continued angst between the Hillary and Bernie camps — which is what we can only imagine the point of the article was about — the Times humiliated itself by racing to Tanden's mother for less-than-flattering quotes.

Turns out that Maya Tanden, nearing 80, didn't know what "on the record" meant, which is solid proof that the reporters didn't explain it properly. Mom Tanden has since put out a statement saying that the Times reporters should be ashamed of themselves. And yeah, we cats, who usually support journalists no matter what, have to agree.

What we mean to say is that we read the article this morning over breakfast and were disgusted by it. Sorry, but for serious national journalists to profile a female CEO of a major Washington think tank and run to Mommy for quotes is just freaking weird.

Would the Times have asked a male CEO's mom for comment? We don't think so. We New York Times subscribers are not happy, and we HISS.

Paris At Dusk

A strangely beautiful photo. We're glad to hear that the main structure of Notre Dame Cathedral apparently has survived. We'll wait for the full report, but in the meantime, we cats PURR.

Ignis Horribilis

By Hubie and Bertie

Eight hundred years and two world wars, and Notre Dame Cathedral was still standing — until today.

Well, okay, it's standing. But what a mess. We're reminded of the damage to Windsor Castle when it caught fire in 1992. It's not clear yet what started this conflagration, but watching the cathedral's spire collapse was almost like watching the Twin Towers fall all over again.

There's something so heartbreaking about all this. It's just the perfect symbol of the dismal Age of Trump. We cats HISS.

(PHOTO: Francois Guillot, Getty Images)

UPDATE: World leaders and luminaries are tweeting appropriate condolences (Barack Obama: "We're thinking of the people of France in your time of grief") (Hillary Clinton: "I wish France strength and shared purpose as they grieve and rebuild") — except, of course, for Benedict Donald, who decided to suggest "flying water tankers." We agree with Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI): "I want a President who can say the right thing in a difficult moment." We cats HISS again.

Lest We Furrget: Goin' Home

FDR's body leaves Warm Springs, Georgia, 1945. We cats PURR.

Maybe You Shouldn't Be In the Country: We're Talking About You, Trump

From The Washington Post:

"On the day the towers fell, Trump mused on a radio show that he now had the tallest building in downtown Manhattan. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he claimed to have helped clean up the rubble, though there is no evidence of him doing so. He also said he lost hundreds of friends in the attack, but could never name one. And he claimed during the presidential campaign that he saw thousands of Muslims in Jersey City cheering the buildings coming down, something that never happened.

"The president also has a long history of denigrating Muslims. He often suggested President Barack Obama, who is a Christian, was really a Muslim, insinuating that if he were that it would be a negative. In his race for president, Trump declared that 'Islam hates us.' He also formally proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States during the presidential campaign. His administration has implemented policies barring citizens of certain Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States."

Inciting Violence

By Baxter

We cats are trying to figure out what we'd look like in a hijab. Probably not great — but we're thinking it would be a great way to show solidarity with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

We've watched Representative Omar's remarks to CAIR, and it is so clear that she was not dissing the attacks on September 11, 2001. We're outraged that Trump and the Republicans have gone after her for it.

Trump — who bragged on live TV on the very day of September 11 that his buildings were now the tallest in New York — has tweeted about Omar in a way that we're sure will either increase the threats on her life (which has probably already happened) or literally get her killed.

Gosh. Will we be ever able to go somewhat back to normal after this abhorrent Presidency is done? We can only hope. In the meantime, we cats HISS.

"What Can We Do For You, Harry? For You Are The One In Trouble Now."

By Miss Kubelik

Yes, we know that next year's anniversary will be a more significant number (75), but we cats can't pass a single April 12 without acknowledging, publicly or privately, the passing of one of our greatest Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Here is the front page from the newspaper of the troops: The Stars & Stripes. Our boys in Europe and the South Pacific lost their Commander-in-Chief, just as they all were on the brink of victory. (The good news: Harry Truman succeeded FDR to the Presidency, and ably handled all the responsibilities of the office — even though Roosevelt had not taken him into his confidence about matters like the atom bomb. Incredible.)

And Eleanor Roosevelt's immortal words when she broke the news to Truman have a special irony. Because Truman was nowhere near "in trouble" — in fact, he rose magnificently to the job.

We wonder what FDR would say about the state America is in now. Surely he'd be furious about the resurgence of white nationalism, and the Republican Party's silence in face of those who would try to rewrite the history of World War II. Here's the truth: We fought the Nazis, and we kicked their ass. Rewrite that, Candace Owens. We cats HISS.

Love A Red Panda!

After a rough week in the news, we cats think it might be time for a dose of red panda. God, they're cute. They make us cats PURR.

Let's Root Out Homophobia (And Bad Passive Tense)

By Zamboni

Tom Hurd and Dylan Toften, a gay couple in Root, New York, will receive a $25,000 settlement after their town clerk denied them a marriage license in 2018 (2018!). The clerk also publicly apologized at this week's town board meeting.

But before you start popping the champagne, check out what she said:

"On July 30 of last year, there was an unfortunate incident involving Mr. Thomas Hurd and Mr. Dylan Toften, who came to my office seeking a marriage license."

"There was an unfortunate incident"? WHUT? How about something more accurate and responsibility-taking, like "I broke the law by refusing to issue Mssrs. Hurd and Toften a marriage license"? Jeez. So Reaganesque, so "mistakes were made."

It would be nice if this grammatically challenged clerk lost her job. We're also wondering why the town of Root "will amend its policies to permit [gay] marriages." "Will"? Hello! The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges was nearly four years ago. What the heck is the town of Root waiting for? We cats HISS.

Beyond The Pale.

By Sniffles

A Muslim Congresswoman makes a speech with a throwaway reference to 9/11 — and a right-wing media mogul who helped Republicans exploit that horrible day just put a photo like this on his front page. As you'd expect, the Congresswoman's death threats have spiked.

We won't mention the newspaper or its owner — or reproduce its cover (and its hateful headline) here. But a friend had a family member in the South Tower who probably died at this moment of impact. So we hope she didn't see this today. We cats HISS.

Girls (And Science) Rule!

By Hubie and Bertie

On a truly terrible news day, it's uplifting to note that the just-unveiled image of a black hole is the work of a woman.

Computer scientist Katie Bouman developed the algorithm that translated telescopic data into the picture we've all marveled at today. We cats don't understand even a smidgen of how she did it (we were really good in English), but who cares? Hooray for women in STEM!

There's just one thing that makes us cranky — aside from the fact that we're not sure Professor Bouman is getting the recognition she deserves. How ironic that we're celebrating this amazing scientific achievement at the same time that idiots on Earth are denying climate change and campaigning against vaccines.

For every Katie Bouman there are a zillion morons. We cats HISS.

A Quickie: Ted Lieu Gives D-List Right-Wing Celebrity Her Comeuppance

We cats were cheering today for Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, who in a hearing on white nationalism — to which some nonentity named Candace Owens was inexplicably invited — hoisted the aforementioned Ms. Owens on her own petard.

You know, there's simply no substitute for playing back the haters' words to them. (In this case, it was video of Owens saying that Adolf Hitler was a-okay until he started making trouble outside of Germany. We guess that means that murdering Jews at home is just fine.)

We expect to see this image of Lieu on a T-shirt soon. In the meantime, we cats PURR.

Mayor Pete Nails Fellow Hoosier's Hypocrisy

By Baxter

Sometimes we cats wonder, gee — do we really still have to have the conversation about how being gay is not a choice? But then we hear speeches like the one Pete Buttigieg gave this weekend, and we remember the old adage: Ya gotta meet voters where they are.

Many of Mayor Pete's comments were aimed at the execrable faux-Christian Mike Pence and his merry band of evangelical homophobes. With an adorable observation about how the decision to be gay is one that's made "far, far above my pay grade," Buttigieg addressed Pence directly. "If you got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me — your quarrel, sir, is with my creator."

Smackdown! We can't wait to see if Pence (or even Benedict Donald) replies.

Meanwhile, Mayor Pete hasn't even announced for President yet, and he's had more magic moments than Hillary and Bernie in 2016 combined. We cats love our deep Democratic bench, but we have to admit that when it comes to this 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, we are smitten kittens. His speech on Sunday just infatuated us more. It was a textbook example of how to:

• Take down the evilness of Trump and Pence without getting into the gutter with them.
• Be a progressive and still talk about values and faith.
• Rebut Democrats (looking at you, Joe Biden) who attempt to give Pence any kind of a pass by being "a decent guy." Pence is not, repeat, not decent.
• Give notice to the odious Pence: He can't hide. He will be an issue in the 2020 campaign.

Sigh. If only Joe Lieberman had taken it to Dick Cheney the way Buttigieg took it to Pence yesterday. President Gore would have won both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Oh, well. It's better to look forward and not back — and Mayor Pete is a Democratic future we can believe in. We cats PURR.

Nielsen Resigns, Bergen-Belsen Down One Guard

By Miss Kubelik

It's hard to get all sentimental and squishy about someone as horrible as Kirstjen Nielsen resigning as DHS Secretary. She is responsible for damaging, and outright ruining, the lives of countless people who had the nerve to seek asylum in the United States. (You know, that whole "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" thing? These Trumpsters sure don't.)

And we don't know what Nielsen's reputation was like before she followed the hapless John Kelly into the Benedict Donald Administration, but if it was benign in the past, it sure ain't now. Like everyone else Trump touches, Nielsen has been tarnished forever. She will go down in history as a torturer of children.

It seems a minor point compared to the suffering that she's inflicted, but with Nielsen gone, the Benedict Donald Cabinet just got a little more testosterone-y. Of course, it's hard to tell since there's such a revolving door (and so many "acting" Secretaries) that one can't really keep track. But Nielsen's pussy, at least, is one that Trump will no longer have the opportunity to grab.

We gladly bid the Nazi Nielsen a not-so-fond goodbye. May she be hounded out of restaurants till the end of her days. We cats HISS.

Journalists: Orange You Ashamed?

By Zamboni

The most depressing thing about the Barr cover-up of the Mueller report is how thoroughly the press bought the "exoneration" narrative — despite a verbatim line from the letter saying "not exonerated."

Headlines have changed since then, because of course nobody's actually read the Mueller report. But it was still dispiriting to see the media's Trump credulity in action once again. Michelle Wolf was so right when she told the roomful of journalists at last year's WHCD, "I think you love him." That made for one frosty ballroom!

And now The Washington Times has followed suit with a Donald Trump interview, in which Mr. Tertiary Syphilis pushes back against beyond-the-grave slams from Barbara Bush. "I have heard that she was nasty to me, but she should be," he said. "Look what I did to her sons."

Here's where the Times interviewers failed: The diaries that Bush biographer Susan Page quoted from — and in which Bar expresses loathing for all things Trump — date back to 1991, nearly 15 years before he first started criticizing George W. Bush for his numerous failings, and a full 25 years before he came up with "Low-Energy Jeb."

Then again, it is the Moonie-founded Times. But still shamefully deficient. And indicative of the double standard by which Trump is treated. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: We cats think we know where Laura Bush got her "crazy eyes" look from.)

No Going Back Over The Mountain

via GIPHY

By Sniffles

There have been many moments in the last few years in which we cats have said to ourselves, "That's it — politically, we'll never be the same after this."

Yesterday's triggering of the Senate's nuclear option is just the latest case in point — the most recent example of a rule-slash-tradition-slash-commonsense-gesture-of-conciliation-and-cooperation that the Trumpsters have trampled on. The question is how much of it we can get back after they're mercifully gone.

But one of the developments that has most upset us is the possibility that Benedict Donald, in spite and fury, will actually close the border with Mexico. Yes, we know he's backed off, but the mere fact that he even mentioned it has sent us into paroxysms of panic.

You know when borders get closed? When the Nazis are on the march. When Maria, Captain von Trapp and the children are trying to escape Austria, and they end up having to walk over the freaking Alps to get to Switzerland. We remember watching that 50-plus years ago with horror and dread, but at the same time feeling safe in the knowledge that such a thing could never happen in our time, in our lives.

And now here it is being talked about. How much damage has Trump done to our relationship with Mexico, and will that key ally ever be able to trust us again? We cats wouldn't blame them if that was a mountain too high for them to climb, and we HISS.

A Quickie: History Made

Congratulations to the city of Chicago for electing its first female/African-American/openly gay mayor. We hope Lori Lightfoot has a smooth transition to the job that Rahm Emanuel inexplicably wanted (and in our opinion, was less than swell at, bless his heart).

May Wisconsinites deliver just as satisfying a verdict in their Supreme Court election tonight, in which a highly competent woman is running against one of the right-wingiest of right-wing pigs. Our paws are crossed. We cats PURR.

It's Called "Happy Warrior"

By Hubie and Bertie

Well, everyone, it's time to talk about Joe Biden.

We weren't intending to do this, because we suspect that the recent rash of Biden-is-touching-me stories are part of a nefarious ruse to get Democrats to say negative things about each other. And we do have some negative things to say about our former Vice President, mostly having to do with Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill.

We've refrained, though — trusting that the 2020 primary process will naturally sort all these matters out. It probably still will. But we have to say that we're not impressed by the latest kerfuffle over Biden's, shall we say, exuberance.

The latest stories' timing is definitely suspicious, but even if it wasn't, our immediate reaction would still be: This is silly. We've seen Joe Biden up close and personally, and well before George H.W. Bush, Donald Trump and yes, Al Franken were exposed as gropers, we witnessed Biden handle a racy, bring-the-house-down joke from — GASP! — a woman with humor and grace. Biden is a guy who understands the moment. We don't know how else to describe it.

On the other hand, you wouldn't have this the-candidate-is-touching-women-inappropriately problem with, say, Pete Buttigieg. Or with Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren or Kirsten Gillibrand. (We left out Tulsi Gabbard on purpose.) So there's that.

Joe Biden is not our first choice for 2020. He has many flaws — but #MeToo is not one of them. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

(IMAGE: Wow, talk about the shoe on the other paw: He lets dogs kiss him. Now, that's taking one for the team.)