Meanwhile, In Ukraine

Putin is targeting civilians on New Year's Eve. American media need to ask Republicans every single day if they're okay with this. We cats HISS.

This Foggy Night Didn't Have Us Low, And Didn't Have Us Down

This makes us very happy. Our humans had to change their New Year's Eve plans because the city of Saratoga Springs decided to launch fireworks at 6 pm. (No parking to be had downtown, lots of chaos — thanks, but no thanks.) Besides, fireworks trigger PTSD in people, contribute to climate change, and freak companion animals out. So a dense fog warning is just what the doctor ordered. We cats PURR.

Happy New Year, Everybody

Next year, 2023, will mark the Ukrainian victory, President Zelenskyy declares. We cats PURR.

By The Numbers

By Zamboni

Take it from us — there are too many pages to the January 6 Committee's reports, and too many testimony transcripts, and God knows way too many pages to Benedict Donald's just-released tax returns, for any of us to have a comprehensive or even comprehensible reaction to the fire hose of information contained in all of the above.

In short, news nuggets will be dribbling out in bits and pieces, and we will all gape and gasp and be disgusted, for the next several days and weeks. But, still — ! Bank accounts in Russia and China? No taxes paid at all in 2020? Never having donated his Presidential salary? Trump is more thoroughly despicable than maybe any of us have thought.

Or, maybe not.

Has anyone been more destructive to the United States than Donald Trump? We have our candidates: certainly, the Confederates who rebelled and seceded from the Union in 1861. And, of course, Nixon? However, he resigned before he could be impeached. So that just leaves Ronald Reagan as the supreme dismantler of the New Deal and the destroyer of the American middle class. After him, good God — Trump takes the prize.

Problem is, Trump would probably be thrilled to be known as the Miss America of democracy's destruction. Which means we have to haul him off to the hoosegow — make him feel pain like he's never felt, even beyond the recent New York magazine cover story, which portrays him as alone, aloof, abandoned and irrelevant.

We haven't joined the chorus berating Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice for their supposed inaction, because none of us really knows what DOJ is up to. But now we have to at least say this: General Garland, we kinda think it's time. Indictments in 2023, please. That would make us cats PURR.

A Very Good Year

By Baxter

We cats are not unbridled fans of Susan Glasser at The New Yorker, and think less of her husband, New York Times reporter Peter Baker.

In the words of Soledad O'Brien, who has little patience for journalism that fails, "Peter Baker is extremely good at 'both-sidesing' stuff." We agree. Both Glasser and Baker have trod lightly around Trump World to preserve their access, a la, but not quite as badly as, Maggie Haberman.

Now, though, Glasser has suddenly discovered that the Biden Administration has had a pretty good 2022, and she's amazed.

"Biden’s rebound [from 2021] is a marker, it seems to me, not only of a President whose great skill is persistence in the face of adversity but of a leader whose foes have underestimated him — and the fractious country he heads — at great cost to themselves.

"Both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump seem to have made the mistake of believing their own propaganda. They did not see Biden as the formidable opponent he has proved to be. The American President, aided by the catastrophic overreach of their attacks on democracies at home and abroad, brought something that turned out to be incalculably valuable to the fight: clarity."

Glasser is talking about the preservation of democracy, both here at home and abroad, which Biden has championed in speech after speech. But she also could have mentioned that, at the same time, the Administration never took its eye off the ball of accomplishing things for the American people. Inflation reduction, student debt relief, safeguarding marriage equality and reproductive healthcare, low unemployment, the PACT Act, and taking out Ayman al-Zawahiri are just a few of Biden-Harris's accomplishments in 2022.

It's been a historic Year Two. We cats celebrate, and we PURR.

Biden 65, GOP Zero

By Sniffles

This is one of those weeks where you try to get all sorts of work done, because people are on vacay and nobody will bother you, right? Projects to complete, chores to finally get to, catnip mice to chase. But Joe Biden is working harder than any of us, signing a huge stack of bills — 65, to be precise. Thanks, Congressional Democrats!

Joe's writing hand must be so tired. Perhaps he should take a few days in St. Croix. (Note to Republicans: If you stayed quiet while Benedict Donald spent every weekend at one of his rundown golf resorts and charged the government and Secret Service billions of dollars to stay at his properties and protect him, you can take a seat.)

Meanwhile, things are looking grim and chaotic for Republicans on Capitol Hill. The new Congress is supposed to be sworn in on Tuesday, and nobody knows if Kevin McCarthy has enough votes yet to be Speaker. (Tsk, tsk. You'd never find Nancy in that embarrassing position.) And the George Santos catastrophe continues: Two of his fellow newly elected Long Island Republicans, Nick LaLota and Anthony D'Esposito, are slamming him, with D'Esposito calling for a House ethics investigation. His Democratic opponent is daring him to engage in a do-over. 

Finally, Santos himself was cornered and humiliated on Fox "News" last night by Tulsi Gabbard, who was filling in for Tucker Carlson. A rattled Santos obviously thought Tuls was going to give him a soft interview. Guess again, George (or whatever your name is)! We cats PURR.

"I Am Not A Crook," 2022 Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

It's time to say something about George Santos, the biggest fabulist since Stephen Glass hoodwinked The New Republic with dozens of fake magazine pieces in the late 1990s. Except Glass didn't try to run for Congress in New York — he'd already been exposed as a liar and a cheat.

Santos has so many lies and so much cheating piling up that it's threatening to become a tsunami and swamp him. He seemed to think that giving an interview to the New York Post would help him survive the tumult. Nope, nope, nope-ity nope. It just dares The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, POLITICO and others to keep digging away. Journalistic pride is at stake.

Did New York Democrats fail Opposition Research 101? You betcha. (To be fair, so did Team Kevin McCarthy.) But there are ways Democrats can make up for that. If we cats were running the state party or the DCCC, we'd be push-polling in NY-03 on this, hard. Sample questions:

"George Santos ran for Congress saying he had a degree from Baruch College. He now says he never received a degree from any institution. Does George Santos deserve to represent you in Congress?"

"George Santos said he owned 13 properties in New York. He now says he doesn't own any such properties. Does George Santos deserve to represent you in Congress?"

"George Santos claimed to have worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Now he says he didn't, and blames his 'poor choice of words.' Does George Santos deserve to represent you in Congress?"

"George Santos now says he never said he was Jewish. He claims he said 'Jew-ish.' Does George Santos deserve to represent you in Congress?"

"Would you describe George Santos as sometimes a liar, mostly a liar, or always a liar?"

You get the idea. Another suggestion: Start a countdown clock on how long it takes for him to face his soon-to-be constituents. Or, the way things are going: his soon-never-to-be constituents. We cats PURR.

The UK's Liz-less Christmas

Something happened in Britain today that hasn't happened in 70 years: Queen Elizabeth did not give her annual Christmas address. Instead, Britons heard from Charles, the new Queen. (Whoops, we mean King.) He did a good job — but is it possible that after all these years, his eyes are getting even closer together? Well, his message is still important. We cats wish everyone a merry happy, and we PURR.

Decency's Back, Part Two

The President and First Lady visited the Children's National Hospital in Washington yesterday, meeting with families, reading to the kids, and visiting patients in the cardiac ICU, where this wonderful photo was taken. Meanwhile, the former guy was ranting and raving on his silly social media platform about how he had "almost nothing to do with January 6." Almost? He knows, doesn't he? We cats PURR.

Photo Of The Year

 

By Miss Kubelik

We cats are powering through the winter cold in upstate New York tonight, because we know how to do it. We all must accommodate ourselves to seasonal changes without complaint. (Canada Goose helps.)

Well, okay, we're warm, but we're not sure 60,000 Texans are, because Greg Abbott has once again failed his constituents and allowed the power grid to go down. Greg, it's two days before Christmas! Why do you hate Jesus?

Meanwhile, the political world is poring through the 845-page report from the January 6 Committee, and the news bites keep coming. Did you know that Benedict Donald did not donate his Presidential salary to charity? What a shock! By the way, why didn't some intrepid journalists figure this out earlier?

Well, never mind. This week has been pretty darn good, and we have no complaints. Particularly when it gives us a photo like this: TIME's Person of the Year addressing Congress under the supervision of two fabulous women: VP Harris and Speaker Pelosi. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Grayson Kisker, Deputy Digital Director/Videographer for Speaker Pelosi)

Decency's Back

"So many people struggle at Christmas. It can be a time of great pain and terrible loneliness. I know.  

"It was 50 years ago this week that I lost my first wife and infant daughter in a car accident, and my two young sons were badly injured when they were out shopping for a Christmas tree. I know how hard this time of year can be.

"Here’s what I learned long ago. No one can ever know what someone else is going through. What’s really going on in their life. What they’re struggling with. What they’re trying to overcome.

"That’s why the smallest acts of kindness can mean so much. Simple acts of kindness that can lift a spirit provide comfort — perhaps maybe even save a life. So this Christmas let’s spread a little kindness."

Slava Ukraini

By Zamboni

Putin-loving Republicans have a problem: President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is adorable.

You could tell they knew that, because the right-wing echo chamber decided that the only thing they could bitch about today in response to all the great images and sound bites and feel-good hahas from Zelenskyy's visit was that he wasn't wearing a suit.

WHAT? Please! Dude just got off a plane from a war zone. Besides, why mess with your brand? Especially when you're about to speak to a joint session of Congress.

And yes, people were clucking about Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert apparently texting during Zelenskyy's speech. And Marjorie Taylor Greene was nowhere to be seen. Who cares about them?

The important thing is just as Hillary Clinton has described: "Zelenskyy has led his people and his country through 10 months of war with Churchillian courage and resolve. Eighty years after Churchill addressed Congress and America amid the Blitz, our message now must be the same from all quarters as it was then: We are with you." As always, Hillary is right about everything. We cats PURR.

Willow's On Sensory Overload

 

Lots going on in the news this week. Let's pause for a moment to look at the Bidens' cat, Willow, checking out the holiday detritus on her first Christmas in the White House. We cats PURR.

On The Money

By Baxter

We knew this was coming, and yet we still weren't prepared. This "king" thing is too weird.

But ready or not, here it is: The Bank of England has released the design for its new bank notes featuring Charles Philip Arthur George. This montage is particularly nifty — kind of Warholish, right? And like all royal portraits, the likeness is, um, flattering.

Charles taking his place on the bank notes is a reminder that Harry and Meghan probably can't fight city hall. The monarchy may be diminished from its glory days, but the machinery of state is powerful. Dude's going to be in everybody's wallet, for heaven's sake. (And this is the guy who some said would never be king after Camillagate.)

Nevertheless, a note of caution for the House of Windsor: Here in Canada, while Elizabeth II remains on the twenty, it won't be forever, and the Quebec national assembly is bucking the official loyalty pledge to Charles. Change is inevitable — but like this weekend's weather, it will be glacial. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Series Finale

By Sniffles

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss is arguing that if Gerald Ford had not pardoned Richard Nixon, and if a prosecution of Nixon had been allowed to proceed unimpeded, Donald Trump would have understood that there would be consequences for inspiring an insurrection.

We cats love Michael Beschloss, but we say, nah. You can't ever convince Donald Trump that there will be consequences for anything. So although we agonized over it for a long time, we're thinking that Jimmy Carter was right when he said it was best that Ford issued the pardon to Nixon, and that we all moved on.

Still... Nixon, and now Trump, are both so awful. Don't we want consequences? Well, Nixon is long dead. And now, the January 6 Committee has established the precedent. A President cannot incite rebellion against the United States and escape accountability.

So the whole thing falls into the hands of Dark Merrick and Jack Smith. We cats can't wait for the next chapter — although, on the other hand, yes, we can wait. To prosecute properly takes time. If you're impatient about that, take comfort from the knowledge that the dragged-out nature of the proceedings probably tortures the objects of prosecution more than you: not just Trump, but Giuliani, Meadows, Eastman, et. al.

Many questions left to answer, and many stones to unturn. We cats look forward to them all, and we PURR.

"It Is Your Duty To Change The World If You Can"

By Hubie and Bertie

"TCM Remembers" always grab us. It reminds us of the films and performances that were meaningful to us, not just in the last 12 months but over the decades. Bearing in mind that there are still two weeks until 2023, here are the giants of cinema who left us in 2022. We cats salute them and their impact on our culture and thinking, and we PURR.

Happy Hanukkah

By Miss Kubelik

The first night of Hanukkah starts when the sun goes down today, which means it should begin in (checks watch)... 10 minutes? Just kidding, but sunset comes awfully early in these last days before the Winter Solstice.

The day also brings the satisfying news that for the first time, the White House has added a menorah to its collection. Not just that, but it was made from wood salvaged from Harry Truman's 1950 renovation by the talented folks in the Executive Residence Carpentry Shop (who knew?), and is quite stunning. It sits on a table in the Cross Hall, between the official portraits of LBJ and Jimmy Carter.

Here's the good news: As part of the White House collection, the menorah is "considered a permanent fixture of the White House archives, and can’t be removed by a future administration or the executive mansion’s staff." In case you were worried about Benedict Donald taking up residence again (which he won't). We cats PURR.

Dark Brandon Throws Some Shade

 

Perhaps you've heard that the MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT that Benedict Donald teased the other day turned out to be nothing but cringeworthy digital "trading cards." Twitter promptly exploded with hilarious mocking, including from some unhappy MAGAts, interestingly enough. And then there was this. Well played, Mr. President. We cats PURR.

Home Movie

By Zamboni

Alexandra Pelosi's documentary about her mom, the best Speaker of the House perhaps ever in American history, premiered last night. If you can catch it, it's worth watching.

In less than two hours, Alexandra neatly recounts Nancy Pelosi's 35-year Congressional career, leaving viewers in awe of the Speaker's commitment to democracy, her unflagging energy, her math skills, and her impressive wardrobe of high heels — which she wore to criss-cross the Capitol's hallowed marble halls, always a woman on a mission.

Although we thought we remembered the nightmare of passing the Affordable Care Act pretty well, it was still pretty striking how the anti-ACA teabaggers in 2009 and 2010 presaged the January 6, 2021, insurrectionists. It was also amusing that Alexandra gave her dad such a meaty supporting role. Watching him run the garbage disposal while his wife was trying to talk on the phone with Mike Pence, or peeling pistachios at a pre-State of the Union party, was both grin- and wince-inducing — since we all know how Paul Pelosi ended up in the ICU a couple of months ago.

(Also, George W. Bush makes a cameo appearance that may actually have you thinking for a split second that he wasn't so terrible after all. It's a downer to remember, even post-Trump, that he was.)

Not to give anything away, but the best part came at the end. "Where are your wounds? Was there nothing worth fighting for?" Nancy Pelosi says she's proud of her wounds. And we're proud of her. We cats PURR.

"Who Do You Love?"

By Baxter

Remember this? Here's then-Vice President Joe Biden on "Meet the Press" in 2012, endorsing marriage equality. It caused a brouhaha because the Inside the Beltway crowd is always shocked when the Veep gets out ahead of his boss's skis. But it was a turning point for a lot of people — Barack Obama included.

By the way, re-watching it all these years later, we notice that after bringing up marriage equality, host David Gregory said to Biden, "You're opposed to it." Was Joe going to let that stand? Of course not.

So it's fitting that today, as POTUS, Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, codifying protections for same-sex and interracial marriage. Take that, Clarence, Biff, John, Neil, Sam and Amy.

You know, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. really is a good and decent man. He sees wrong and tries to right it, suffering and tries to heal it, war and tries to stop it. Presidentially, in the last two years we have gone from the odious to the sublime. Someday America may appreciate this. We cats already do, and we PURR.

Not-So-Sweet Tweets

By Sniffles

We cats are on Twitter, although not under our real feline names. We've enjoyed it — despite the frequent annoying tweets like "Raise your hand if you agree," "I did not have that on my Bingo card," and "Am I the only one who...?" Mostly, though, it's been informative and fun.

And we're still on Twitter, despite all the right-wing chaos that Elon Musk has fomented. Blocking and muting helps a bit, but there's still too much of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Harry and Meghan, anti-vaxxers, and other boring crap in our timeline. But if we weren't there, how else would we see jaw-dropping stuff like this ? News tips from tweeps are super-helpful.

We also see a lot of Musk, even though we've blocked him, which is irritating. It would be easy to avoid all Musk's provocations if only folks we follow would stop retweeting and endlessly commenting on him. He just wants to pit people against each other to get more traffic, so it seems that the logical response would be to ignore him — and the hateful trolls who are back on the platform. (Not Benedict Donald, though, who appears to be taking a pass.)

Perhaps soon, Musk will realize that his Tesla stock has dropped through the floor since he started all this. Perhaps he'll get bored with his new toy and go find something else to do. Whatever happens, we don't believe in letting right-wing idiots chase us away. Dr. Anthony Fauci, recently targeted by Musk, has the right idea: "I don't pay attention to that, and I don't even feel I need to respond. A lot of that stuff is just a cesspool of misinformation, and I don't waste a minute worrying about it." We cats PURR.

Office Mates

It's been a busy weekend of holiday errands, but we'll be back on the blog train tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this photo of the President and his First Friend in the Oval Office. (Yes, Commander's a dog, and we're not sure where Willow is. But it's still a cute picture.)

Sometimes we see old photos of Benedict Donald at the Resolute Desk and we wonder how we ever managed to live through it. But we did. Times are better now, aren't they? We cats PURR.

Sinematograph

By Hubie and Bertie

Do you think that Chuck Schumer didn't know about Kyrsten Sinema's re-affiliation to Independent? Take it from us, he knew.

In fact, he knew a long time ago. Because Sinema had to have run her decision past him — to get his blessing, confirm her committee assignments, and reassure the Senate's ability to subpoena, etc., etc. He probably said to her, okay, but please wait until after the Georgia runoff, because we don't need to inject any more drama into that race. And so, we assume, she did.

Any news outlet that portrays the Inside Baseball machinations of the Senate differently is probably not to be trusted. Which means the Sinema story is less than meets the eye.

And that's the way it goes. After a hopeful beginning, we cats have ended up no fans of Sinema (although we still admire her bold presence at her swearing-in with Mike Pence, above). Her move to Independent appears to be solely related to her ability to weather a primary challenge in 2024. And it's probably no coincidence that we started receiving fundraising appeals from Ruben Gallego in the last 24 hours.

So, why shouldn't Lisa Murkowski pull a Sinema? Switch party affiliation to Independent, and caucus with the Democrats? After all, Alaska votes Democratic now. We cats wait with interest, and we PURR.

Now, That's A Real Head-Scratcher

By Miss Kubelik

Yes, it's only Thursday, but this week feels like one to celebrate. Seventeen "guilty" convictions in the Trump Organization trial, followed by Raphael Warnock's re-election, the House protecting marriage equality, and now, Brittney Griner is coming home. Neat!

Griner will land in San Antonio soon, but the MAGAts and craven Republicans have already been screaming for hours about how awful this deal was. Suddenly, they have all discovered the existence of Paul Whelan, who's been in a Russian prison for four years. And they've gone after Griner for "hating America." What's that about? Sounds like unvarnished racism and homophobia to us.

In short, instead of cheering the fact that a wrongly imprisoned American is coming home, Republicans are trying to turn a win for Biden into a scandal that Whelan was "left behind." Hmmm. Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018. But Joe Biden has only been President since January 20, 2021. Why didn't Benedict Donald spring Whelan when he was in the White House? Isn't Vladimir Putin his BFF? We cats are simply stumped. And we HISS.

OMG, They're All Sarah Palin

 

These are the people who want to destroy public education and have everyone homeschooled — and they don't know crap! We cats HISS.

Senator Bae, Saved

By Zamboni

Did you know that Ted Cruz's 14-year-old daughter was rushed to the hospital last night with self-inflicted knife wounds? Do you further know that although Cruz has been brutally unkind about Democrats' woes (the Paul Pelosi attack just the latest example), not a single one of our leaders has made snarky comments about this incident?

That's known as being decent. And in the Georgia Senate runoff yesterday, the exponentially more decent man prevailed. "Senator Bae" and his BFF, "Senator My Boo," will not be separated — at least until Brian Kemp decides whether he will try to defeat Jon Ossoff in 2026. The runoff results may give him a tiny bit of pause. But just a tiny bit.

Warnock gave a barn-burning victory speech last night. What was surprising was Herschel Walker's concession. It was gracious and committed to democratic principles — in other words, completely anti-Trump. And he seemed able to read it just fine. (Don't accuse us of being mean. The guy clearly has CTE. And if there were a Heisman Trophy for misspeaking, he'd win it hands down.)

What an indictment of the GOPoT (Grand Old Party of Trump) that a lying, "pro-life" hypocrite who has paid for abortions, neglected his children, exaggerated his resume, and mistreated the women in his life should be the one to rise above their sore-loser Big Lie.

For that reason and more, Republicans cannot be allowed to simply "move on" from Trump. They must own their perfidy. In the meantime, thank you, Georgia! We cats PURR.

Golden.

By Baxter

In the category of Mean People Suck and Karma Should Get Them, some recent headlines have not exactly been displeasing. Last night came the news that the actress Kirstie Alley had died. She was funny in "Drop Dead Gorgeous." But she was also (ugh) a Scientologist, a huge Trump fan, a spreader of COVID and other misinformation, and an internet bully. We have to be honest and say we won't miss her.

Then today, officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 received the Congressional Gold Medal. Recipients included our faves, Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone, Eugene Goodman, Danny Hodges, and Aquilino Gonell. Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the insurrection, received the medal posthumously.

Best thing about the event? After exchanging greetings with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, Officer Sicknick's family walked right past the outstretched hands of Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. A top-drawer snub that both McConnell and McCarthy richly deserved.

"They’re just two-faced," Sicknick's mom said, accurately. "I’m just tired of them standing there and saying how wonderful the Capitol police is, and then they turn around and go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring. It just hurts."

Maybe it's Benedict Donald who's hurting more right now. The Trump Organization was just convicted in Manhattan on charges of conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. And Special Counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed Trumpsters in the swing states of Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin for all communications they had with His Orangeness. Another great day to be a Trump! We cats PURR.

Tuesday's The Day

By Sniffles

It's important that we not let Benedict Donald's "suspend the Constitution" post go unnoticed. If something like that doesn't get pushback, it festers and becomes destructive. While we're glad that the stupid hosts of the equally stupid Sunday shows pressed Republicans on it today, more condemnation needs to happen. Otherwise, therein lies the road to perdition.

On a brighter note, though, let's remember that Tuesday is the runoff in the Georgia Senate race. Senator Raphael Warnock is pitted against an utterly unqualified and embarrassing GOP candidate for whom a good number of Republicans will vote. The question is, how many? And when we ask that, we're talking about white voters — not African-Americans, who turned out in massive numbers in the early vote.

It always boils down to the whites. That's because Georgia is a swing state, which means the Senate race, while it should be a cakewalk for Warnock, was always going to be close. One to four points, we think — if we Democrats put in the work, and we're confident we will. But people need to recognize that it's the white vote that's going to send Herschel Walker either to the Senate or back to the oblivion where he belongs.

White voters went for Walker in the general election on November 8. Will they be moved to turn out and vote for that same embarrassing candidate when control of the Senate is moot? We think not. But Black Warnock supporters are still mightily energized. So we think that will determine the winner on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Warnock and his BFF Senator Jon Ossoff have been campaigning together, and it is a heartwarming sight to see. If you have any time tomorrow to phone bank or text bank remotely, please do it. Otherwise, a last-minute dollar contribution to Warnock's campaign would help in the last lap of GOTV. We cats PURR.

Aliens Discover Cats

 

We excel at many things, actually. But this is still a good cartoon. We cats approve, and we PURR.

(IMAGE: Nathan W. Pyle)

Donald Trump's Worst Nightmare

By Hubie and Bertie

We cats could not be happier with the Democratic House leadership right now. The "old guard" has gracefully stepped away to make room for the new, but are still sticking around to advise and support as needed.

And the "new guard" is exciting — Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar — plus Lauren Underwood of Illinois, in one of three co-chair positions on the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Underwood is the first Black Congresswoman to serve in leadership since Shirley Chisholm — wow!

Compare that to the chaos on the other side of the aisle, and we cats say, we'd rather be us than them. 

Why? Well, because the leaders on the Democratic side are all swell people. But also because the Democratic Party recognizes that the future of America rides on the shoulders of people of all backgrounds, experiences, and, most of all, colors.

Witness today's DNC endorsement of South Carolina, Nevada/New Hampshire, and Michigan as their first primary contests in 2024. "You oughta give Iowa a try," they sang in The Music Man — but Iowa is 90 percent white, so we'll let other Americans choose our Presidential nominees from now on.

The future is young, progressive, climate-conscious, feminist, and non-white. Sorry, Trumpsters. And with the brilliant leaders we have on both the House and Senate sides, we Democratic cats are feeling bullish about the next two years and then some. It all makes us PURR.

Three Little Words, Three Very Little Men

By Miss Kubelik

It took almost two months, but the House Judiciary GOP — aka Jim Jordan, no doubt, as its Ranking Member — finally took down this annoying but incomprehensible tweet. It was done without explanation, either about why it was posted in the first place, or why it's now gone.

A couple of reasons could be lurking in today's headlines. Kanye West had nice things to say about Adolf Hitler to Alex Jones, and Benedict Donald, West's host at dinner last week, just suffered another big legal loss. The 11th Circuit put the kibosh on Trump's Special Master, which means the decks are cleared for DOJ in the stolen documents case. 

And of course Elon Musk continues to embarrass himself as CEO of Twitter. But which of these three idiots was the straw that broke the Judiciary GOP's back?

It's hard to know how the Republican crazies think. But since Holocaust denial seems so hot in their circles, they should remember that it was a future Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, as Supreme Allied Commander, instructed film and still photographs to be taken of the newly liberated Nazi death camps. Buchenwald alone, he said, was "beyond the American mind to comprehend." The documentation, he believed, would make sure that the world would never forget.

We don't often say this about the man who picked Richard Nixon as his Vice President, but Eisenhower was right. Perhaps Trump, Kanye, and all those MAGA nutcases could zip down to the Holocaust Memorial Museum for a field trip. We cats HISS.

Joe Cool

Let's close out a "could-have-been-way-worse" November with this photo of President Joe Biden, a.k.a. Dark Brandon, sucking down a milkshake and looking like a boss. The Trumpsters are hating on this picture, so that's all you need to know. We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: A Pretty Good Day Edition

By Zamboni

The nation has had worse days, politically speaking. We're seeing lots of headlines that bring satisfied Cheshire cat grins to our furry faces. Here are a few of them.

The Senate just voted to protect marriage equality for interracial and same-sex couples. Mitch McConnell, who is in an interracial marriage, voted "no." Good thing Clarence Thomas isn't a Senator!

Stewart Rhodes and his sidekick Kelly Meggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy this afternoon, with three of their minions convicted on lesser but still serious charges. Look for all of them to be hauled off to the hoosegow for a long, long time. And look for other January 6 defendants to maybe decide they should plead guilty and/or cooperate with prosecutors.

Once again, Georgia voter turnout for the December 6 Senate runoff has been off the charts. With the GOP having performed so poorly on Election Day, it's hard to believe that it's energized Republicans who are thronging to the polls. And Senator Raphael Warnock has three times more money than Herschel Walker — to fund even more GOTV.

Republicans continue to flail, with more of them jumping on the we're-not-anti-Semitic bandwagon. Donald Trump must be furious. And the MyPillow dude has declared his candidacy for chairman of the RNC — to run against a woman who literally changed her name for Trump. Could the party finally be circling the drain? You'd love to see it.

But our favorite thing might be the pictures that have come out of President Biden's meeting with Congressional leaders today. See how happy Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer look! Check out those morose/forced smile expressions on McConnell and the hapless Kevin McCarthy! We cats PURR.

All We Want For Christmas Is Fewer Anti-Semites

By Baxter

Benedict Donald has tried to explain away his infamous dinner with that vile pair, Kanye West and Nick Fuentes — like, a hundred times. Or at least three. It was just supposed to be with Kanye! Trump didn't know who Fuentes was! But then he was allegedly impressed with him. What?

It is all ridiculous and would be laughable if racism, misogyny and anti-Semitism weren't involved.

Meanwhile, what has the Republican Party done in the last near-week since? Not much. But at least "not much" is slightly better than "nothing," which is what they were previously doing.

Finally, today, a few spoke up. The first to appear on our Twitter timeline were Senators Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, and Willard "Mitt" Romney. Fine, but what took them so long? Is it because the RNC fielded a quick poll to see if their voters would be okay with demonizing Jews, denying the Holocaust, suppressing women, and hating on gays, people of color, and anyone who is not white, straight, Christian and male? (Betcha they did, and betcha it came back that yes, thank you, they'd be perfectly fine with it.)

So at this point, it would be reasonable to assume that every Republican other than Cassidy, Collins and Romney is wholly supportive of the leader of their party consorting with neo-Nazis and anti-Semites. Including New Yorkers Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin — and, of course, Carl Paladino. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: In the midst of the GOP's ugliness, some beauty. Here are some of Jill Biden's White House Christmas decorations. They make us PURR.)

Accountability NOW

By Sniffles

Normally, we cats would treat anything Benedict Donald-related as a sideshow. Mainly because we're sick of him, but also because he's just pretending to run for President in 2024 because he thinks it will protect him from Tish James, Alvin Bragg, Merrick Garland and Jack Smith. (It won't, but never mind.) It's purely performative. 

But the alleged dinner at Mar-a-Lago with anti-Semites Kanye West and Nick Fuentes appears to have kicked up some dust. At least, some Republicans like Chris Christie are speaking out. But not nearly enough. So we cats are putting the news media on notice.

Journalists of America: Every single one of you must ask every Republican — from Kevin McCarthy to Mitch McConnell to all House members, and any Republican lamebrain thinking of running for President, like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pompeo — to either approve or condemn this Mar-a-Lago dinner.

No dodging allowed. No "I didn't see that." Approve or condemn. Period.

As Brian Schatz, Democratic Senator from Hawaii, deftly imagined, Republicans will probably try to skate by with: "I am (confidentially and off the record) appalled at Trump dining with anti-Semites. There is no (again, to reiterate this is on background and not for attribution) place for him in our party. This is the final straw (unless it looks like he’s winning, and then I’m all in.)"

Journalists, don't let the Republicans get away with this. We're at a serious crossroads in our country, and your reporting could make the difference between complicity and accountability. If you choose the latter, we cats would PURR.

Tories MIA On The EA

By Hubie and Bertie

One of the requirements of Canada's Emergencies Act is a hearing afterward, to debrief on the use of the Act and to identify any problems with having invoked it. In other words, a formality. (We're pointing that out in case you hear anything different.)

Therefore, any elected official who was involved in, say, the invocation of the Emergencies Act to clear the streets of Ottawa last February should be ready and willing to testify, right? Well, no — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland appeared. But no Conservative politicians felt the sense of responsibility — or had the guts — to do likewise. Even though some of them, like Tory leader Pierre Poilievre, openly supported the Trumpy truckers at the time.

In an interesting echo of his father invoking the War Measures Act in Quebec in 1970, Justin said today that he was completely "serene" about his decision, because the Ottawa police, the RCMP and the Ontario provincial police had no plan to deal with the crisis. (Gee, the premier of Ontario is a Tory. Like his counterparts at the federal level, he apparently wanted the truckers to become "Trudeau's problem.")

Oh, and by the way, Trudeau kicked off his testimony in French, because there's been the usual amount of grousing that the hearing has been dominated by English. Justin is perfectly bilingual, as we all know. Take that, opposition.

Trudeau said that the moment of truth occurred late in the afternoon of February 14, when he was advised by the Clerk of the Privy Council to invoke the Act. He said that he asked himself, "What if the worst had happened in those following days? What if someone had gotten hurt? What if a police officer had been put in a hospital? What if, when I had an opportunity to do something, I had waited?"

We're very glad Trudeau did not wait. Ottawa was under siege, and border crossings in both Ontario and Alberta were blocked, with both the US and Canadian economies losing zillions as a result. Somebody had to be the adult in the room. Like his dad, Justin decided to be that person. The final EA report is due in February, and we'll see. In the meantime, we cats PURR.

Peltola Pummels Palin

By Miss Kubelik

This Thanksgiving Eve, we cats are grateful for the election results out of Alaska. Representative Mary Peltola has defeated Sarah Palin to win a full term in Congress. Yay!

Palin, of course, was endorsed by Benedict Donald — as was the nutcase whose clock Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski just cleaned in the Senate race. So Trump's terrible week continues.

It's amazing when you think about it: Sarah Palin is a former popular Alaska Governor who was on the GOP Presidential ticket in 2008. Now, she's just lost a statewide race for the second time in a few months, and the Congressional seat she was running for will be held by a Democrat — for the first time in 50 years. Incredible. We cats PURR.

JFK 59

The Kennedy family was reportedly not crazy about this portrait of the 35th President by storied artist Jamie Wyeth. But happily, President Biden has hung it in his private study, off the Oval Office. We cats PURR.

Whacked About The Wedding

By Zamboni

For some reason, this Vogue cover has sent the Washington press around the bend. The White House barred media from Naomi Biden's wedding this past weekend, but a pre-nuptials cover shoot with Anna Wintour's magazine just made their heads explode.

Is there nothing else for the Washington media to cover right now? There must be! In fact, let's make a list:

• Lady Lindsey Graham testified in Fulton County, Georgia, about the Trump election subversion there.
• Today's hearing in the 11th circuit went very badly for Trump, and the court seems poised to ditch the "special master" in the stolen documents case.
• The Supreme Court ruled without dissent that the House Ways & Means Committee could access Trump's tax returns.

BUT THE WEDDING! We can't begin to describe how reporters like Maggie Haberman of The New York Times and Ashley Parker of The Washington Post have embarrassed themselves on social media today. It doesn't bode well for their coverage of the upcoming antics of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, does it? We cats HISS.

Canadian MAGAs Have Their Day(s) In Court

By Baxter

Faithful readers probably recall how we cats had our fur on fire about the Trump-like "Freedom Convoy" protesters who took over Ottawa and abused its citizens last February.

They danced and urinated on the Canadian War Memorial, terrorized residential neighborhoods, and basically trashed the place while the Ottawa police stood by helplessly (or sympathetically, depending on whom you talk to). At least, they did until the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, and hustled their asses out of town.

Now, the government has been holding a public inquiry over the use of the EA. This is not an investigation — it's a routine look-back that the act itself requires, to confirm that it was used appropriately.

You won't be surprised to hear that the lawyer representing the protesting "truckers" is as obnoxious and unattractive as they are. Today, the judge presiding over the inquiry threw him out for interrupting testimony and making demands. Then, Bannon-like, he stood in front of the building where the hearing was being held, grousing and whining until one of the convoy leaders yanked him away.

Bottom line is that these stupid Trumpy truckers were breaking the law. They targeted officeholders' homes, blocked streets with hundreds of giant vehicles, and jammed up border crossings with the US. They deserved to have their rights to assemble suspended and their bank accounts frozen. And their lawyer acting up doesn't help their cause.

We cats can't wait for the verdict on this inquiry. If it's fair at all, it will justify implementing the EA, and we cats will PURR.

(IMAGE: Convoy lawyer Brendan Miller. Why do they all look like this?)

Best Bridal Shot Ever

Love the Obama portrait in the mirror. Just crop out the guy on the left and we're good. We cats PURR.

Sorry — Non-Gay Guy, But Still No Gun

By Sniffles

The newest national hero has to be Richard Fierro, the Army vet who tackled the Club Q gunman in Colorado Springs on Saturday night and beat the shit out of him. (We cats were wondering why Anderson Lee Aldrich had to be sent to the hospital, and now we know.)

The next newest national hero is surely the drag queen dancer who, answering the call from Fierro to help, stomped the gunman with her high heels. Everyone, absolutely everyone on social media wants to buy that dancer a drink. Or two or three or four. For life.

We admit it — we got a ton of satisfaction from that image. And we were so pleased that when Colorado Springs police chief Adrian Vasquez named the victims, he included the pronouns they preferred:

• Kelly Loving (she/her)
• Daniel Aston (he/him)
• Derrick Rump (he/him)
• Ashley Paugh (she/her)
• Raymond Green Vance (he/him)

"We respect all of our community members, including our LGBTQ community," Vasquez said. "Therefore, we will be identifying the victims by how they identified themselves and how their families have loved and identified them." We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Richard Fierro, who was out for an evening of family-friendly fun at Club Q, and whose moxie ended up saving an untold number of lives that night. We cats salute him — and the drag queen.)

Gay Guys Without Guns

By Hubie and Bertie

Just as there was no "red wave" for the Republicans this year, there was no "red flag" for the shooter in Colorado Springs last night.

Which is ridiculous. How many Anderson Lee Aldriches can there be in the world? With the same birth date, no less. But it appears that the gunman who targeted the LGBTQ+ club was the same guy who was arrested for a bomb threat incident last year — the sort of thing that should immediately put him on a "No-guns-for you!" list.

Despite that, Aldrich walked into the club with a long rifle and other guns and killed five people. Amazingly, two club patrons who were not armed were able to subdue him and save who knows how many lives. So much for the "good guy with a gun" theory.

We cats are weary — of the Trumpy 2A crowd, of their hatred for gay people, and of police departments screwing up. It all makes us HISS.

Happy Day

The President's granddaughter, Naomi Biden, was married at the White House today. It looks like they had perfect weather. A nice omen, especially after a midterm election that went pretty darn well for the Democrats. We cats see a lot of reasons to celebrate, and we PURR.

Kind Of Nessy

By Miss Kubelik

Is it just us, or does Merrick Garland's anointed go-after-Trump guy give off a distinctly "Untouchables" vibe?

We never heard of Jack Smith before today, but he's just earned himself a follow on Twitter. Not because he'll say anything about his work — these prosecutors are notoriously tight-lipped — but because he went after Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague. How perfect. You know, Benedict Donald really is a kind of war criminal, now that we think about it. At the very least, he's a crime against humanity.

So we're generally approving of Dark Merrick's special-counsel move. We've seen enough endorsements of Smith from career DOJ folks to be assured that he's a no-nonsense, by-the-book, let's-not-hold-up-the-parade kind of prosecutor. And Trump sounds kind of nervous.

Meanwhile, speaking of nervous — goodness gracious, Twitter was in a state last night. It was like everyone was on a plane that they knew was going to crash. When we all woke up this morning and it hadn't, it was a relief. (Especially for us, since we didn't know how to download our Twitter archive until today.) We don't know about you, but we're awfully tired of billionaire (and fake billionaire) man-babies expecting the world to indulge them. Our kingdom for a grownup. We cats HISS.

Passing The Torch

By Zamboni

Was the best thing about today the part in Nancy Pelosi's speech where she thanked three Presidents she's worked with — George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden? Because she's worked with four.

Or maybe it's that we could soon get House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries! If he wins the job, he would be the first Black member to lead his party in Congress. As New York Attorney General Tish James tweeted, "Chuck and Hakeem. Brooklyn, we back on the map." And just as important: Jeffries is a badass and a fighter. Republicans beware.

As for them, they're already showing their stripes. After spending weeks screaming about inflation and gas prices and caravans, they've announced absolutely zero plans to tackle any of them. Looks like the GOP "Commitment to America" consists only of Hunter Biden's laptop (whatever that is). And Kevin McCarthy declined to attend Pelosi's speech today — which means that he is classless, chicken, or was caught off-guard by the House Democrats' unexpected command of the news cycle. Or all three.

Best news of all is that Pelosi will still be around to lend a hand behind the scenes. Staying in Congress, but stepping out of leadership, she'll be able to keep contributing and make sure hubby Paul recovers from last month's MAGA hammer attack.

Kinda different from John Boehner — who in 2015 couldn't wait to leave Washington and devote himself to his cigarettes and Merlot. That's the difference between a Speaker who was run out of town by his own party, and a Speaker who is beloved and will go down in history as one of the most consequential ever. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder)

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Let 'Em Fight Edition

By Baxter

The AP has called the House for the Republicans tonight, but we don't know by how many seats. It won't be by many, which is a good thing, because a slim majority requires a leader who really knows what he's doing. And Kevin McCarthy is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier (he hasn't even clinched the Speakership yet). Get ready for a lot of GOP infighting as Kev tries (and will probably fail) to walk a tightrope between the crazies and the less-crazies.

Mitch McConnell will remain Senate Minority Leader (accent on minority, yay!). Didn't he say he was going to resign or something if he couldn't be Majority Leader again? Well, no matter. He obliterated Florida's first Martian Senator, Rick Scott, who was endorsed for Leader by Benedict Donald, in a closed Senate caucus meeting, 37 to 10. Which means, that since those votes are usually secret, Mitch might never find out who the other nine Senators were. (We're actually surprised to learn that Scott has nine friends.)

Out in the states, what was the Michigan Republican Party's reaction to getting wiped out in the midterms? They launched a new campaign they called "the Grand 'New' Party," because — wait for it — the old Michigan GOP is "too moderate." This is why other Republicans who are urging a swing to the center (like Larry Hogan) are whistling in the wind. HAHAHAHA

Finally, in a bit of potentially good legislative news, the Senate has advanced a marriage equality bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage. Here's hoping this will eventually head our reactionary SCOTUS off at the pass. Did you think all Republicans voted against it? Indeed no! It advanced 62 to 37, with support from GOP Senators Blunt, Burr, Capito, Collins, Ernst, Lummis, Murkowski, Portman, Romney, Sullivan, Tillis and Young. Should make for some interesting intra-party arguments in the Senate lunch room. Food fight? We cats PURR.

Why Not? Another De Adder Du Jour

By Sniffles

Benedict Donald is down in Florida at his bad-taste-rococo golf motel, about to do something that the Republican Party he's destroying doesn't want him to do. And we couldn't be happier. The only downside is knowing that the GOP isn't suddenly trying to dump him because he's awful — they're as bad as he is. They want to dump him because he makes them lose. That's all that matters to them. We cats HISS.

Election Denial Defeated

 

Turns out that you can refuse to debate the craziest crazy person and it's the right thing to do. Congratulations, Secretary Hobbs. And please, let us never hear the name of her opponent again. We cats PURR.

Keep Your Change

By Hubie and Bertie

Do the pundits admit now that 2022 was not a change election?

We have no idea, actually, because our TVs are off. And we don't know when the sets are going to go back on again, because the talking heads are insufferable — so why subject ourselves to them? We've also seen no prominent mea culpas on social media or in the online MSM — which is concerning, because even with subpar performers like Chuck Todd, credibility (or, at least, an attempt at it) is important.

We're also annoyed with former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who is generally someone we like. But on Election Day she posted an incredibly dumb tweet about how she was flashing on 2010, when the Democrats lost 63 seats. So stupid. So defeatist. So wrong.

Here's why 2022 was no 2010, and no 2014: Voters have been through so much crap in the last two years — COVID, Benedict Donald, January 6, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Dobbs, Uvalde, and all the economic disruptions (supply chain, inflation, gas) — that they said, "Enough." Biden Calm trumped MAGA Chaos once more.

Now, while we wait for whatever happens with the House, it's super-duper-fun to watch all the Republicans fight with each other. McCarthy, McConnell, the Trumpster nutcases, even Ginni Thomas — they've all taken their places in the circular firing squad, and are shooting away. This should be an interesting week! We cats PURR.

(IMAGES: These are just some of the Democrats who were big winners last week. Bet we can add Katie Hobbs of Arizona here soon.)