Tidbits And Cat Treats: High Anxiety Edition

By Sniffles

We cats are still trying to figure out who's really running around with their hair on fire about Thursday night's debate. Is it the punditocracy, or regular people? Is it just rich dudes at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker? (Leave out The Philadelphia Inquirer, which had exactly the right take.) Until we decide, here are some thoughts that are running through our furry heads.

Benedict Donald is furious that Biden's getting all the attention. He said so himself. Hilarious!

We're not engaging much with folks on social media about the debate, because every minute we Democrats are arguing with each other and not talking about Benedict Donald or Project 2025, we're doing MAGA's work for them. That said, we'd like to ask the lefty hand-wringers who are calling for Biden to quit the same question Officer Harry Dunn asked the January 6 rioters: "Why doesn't my vote count?" (Biden received 14 million of them in the Democratic primaries.)

James Clyburn must be doing a good job on Dana Bash's Sunday show today, because she's getting all defensive. Here's another suggestion for Clyburn (or any other Biden person Bash interviews). Look her in the eye and say, "Joe Biden carried Texas in 2020." When she says, "No, he didn't," ask her, "So why didn't you do that to Trump the other night?" (This would work with Jake Tapper, too.)

The media obviously have been insufferable on all this, and will continue to be at least until the SCOTUS immunity decision comes down tomorrow. So why not take a break from the news and enjoy the rest of the weekend? As one wise voter observed, "The media love chaos, because chaos is profitable."

Finally, Biden-Harris has received a ton of money — $33 million and counting — since Thursday night, with half coming from first-time donors. People are obviously voting with their dollars, which is excellent news. And while we're on the subject: Today is the last day of June, and the last day of the quarter. Democratic candidates from President on down will report their fundraising totals soon — their last major filing before October, so it's super-important that you support your campaigns of choice today. Your contributions will matter more today than tomorrow or later this summer.

Stay cool, everybody. We cats PURR.

We Need More Than A Good Night And Good Luck

By Hubie and Bertie

We cats have not yet addressed the failures of CNN and its "debate moderators" the other night. That's because we've been spending the last day savoring the money that Biden-Harris has been raising, and laughing at comments on Twitter from people like George Conway and Rick Wilson. (What would we do without these former Republicans? They get the fact that the best defense is an offense, with humor.)

Meanwhile, though, it's been pretty discouraging that journalists still haven't figured out how to cover Benedict Donald, let alone treat him in Presidential "debates." Obviously it's a challenge when someone spews a firehose of falsehoods, but it requires more than bringing on the excellent Daniel Dale for fact-checking after the event.

Our theory is that Jake Tapper and Dana Bash were told to play it safe, and not subject the network to a Candy-Crowley-type blowback. Remember that? Crowley dared to correct Willard "Mitt" Romney in a 2012 debate that she moderated with President Obama, and Republicans lost their minds. Crowley left CNN two years later. You can draw your own conclusions, but color us not surprised.

What debate moderators, and any journalists whose paths cross with Trump, must do is interrupt him to nail him on specifics. They should ask: What polls show that most Americans wanted Roe v. Wade overturned? Who's happy about it? What election fraud occurred in 2020 — aside from the very few documented instances that were ascribed to Republicans? What are "Black jobs" and "Hispanic jobs"? Who performs those jobs, what are they, and where? How many "abortions after birth" have occurred, and where? Please cite hospitals, cities, and states.

Yes, it was probably a disgrace that a convicted felon could share a debate stage with the President of the United States. But this particular felon has completely co-opted the Republican Party. So the onus is on journalists to try — try — to set some guardrails. (After all, the debate on Thursday was CNN's event, yes?) Edward R. Murrow did it in 1954, when he said this to his viewers:

"This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent...We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities."

Journalists are citizens, too. It would be great if more of them would remember that. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Dark Brandon's Off-Night

By Miss Kubelik

In a Toronto by-election earlier this week, the Liberal Party lost a Parliamentary seat that's been in their column for the last 30 years. It wasn't a landslide for the Conservatives — they picked it up by fewer than 600 votes. Still, it was a shock. Pundits ever since have been screaming for Justin Trudeau to step down as party leader, and lefty politicians are, as you might expect, hand-wringing all over Canada.

Sound familiar?

Trudeau hasn't tipped his hand yet, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere (the next election isn't until 2025). But the reaction of one of his Cabinet ministers got our attention.

"My advice to him as a minister and a colleague professionally is, absolutely, stay on," Montreal MP Marc Miller said.

"Let's not minimize this loss," he added. "I think a lot of us have to step back, give our heads a shake, screw it on a little better. Stop the navel-gazing and get back on the horse and fight for Canadians."

Two days ago, we cats posted that we knew President Biden would know what to do in last night's debate. Well, it appears that he did — he touted the economy and infrastructure, detailed his plan for the border, slammed Trump's complicity in Dobbs, brought up January 6, and showed real anger about "suckers and losers" — but the problem is, he did all this while being 81 years old. And astoundingly, his team appeared to have prepared him for a normal debate. About halfway into it, he seemed to click and change tactics.

(We also liked his comment about alley cats. It's a handy reminder to spay and neuter your pets.)

The worst thing about last night was that it opened the door once more to all the — as Marc Miller would say — navel-gazing about Biden's age, which means maddening media reruns of hysteria and "panic." So Joe owns that, and he needs to figure out how to respond. While he does, let's get back on our own particular horse and fight for Americans: Give to Democratic campaigns before the end of the quarter on June 30. Knock doors and make calls. Help register voters. Write postcards and letters. Our democracy is worth it. We cats PURR.

Lest We Furr-get: A Note About The Debate(s)

By Zamboni

We cats will be traveling, so it may be difficult for us to watch and immediately comment on tomorrow's Presidential debate that, so far, still seems to be happening. However, for those cable news pundits and blatherers who are busy telling President Biden what he "has" to do, we have this advice: Why not give institutional memory a try? You might learn a few things. 

Like the fact that one of the advantages of Joe Biden's age is that he's been around so long that there's very little he hasn't seen or doesn't know. And when it comes to debating, he's deftly handled two of the most difficult encounters in modern political history — against Sarah Palin in 2008, and against Benedict Donald in 2020.

The Vice Presidential debate in 2008 was beyond tricky, because although everyone knew by then that Palin was a dolt, then-Senator Biden still had to show her respect — which he did. In polls afterward, viewers said they thought Biden won the debate, 51 to 36 percent. Palin's weird winking at the camera may have had some influence on those numbers. Ah, memories.

Twelve years later, Biden was up against the ever-erratic Benedict Donald, who had been knocked askew by months of his COVID-19 mismanagement and Black Lives Matter. So he wasn't on top of his game, such as it was. But he was still an unpredictable chaos agent — and the incumbent President. So again, a tricky situation. Unlike Trump's 2016 Republican rivals, who had been completely flummoxed by how to handle him, Biden struck the perfect balance between respecting the Presidency and telling his constantly interrupting opponent to shut up. In polls afterward, majorities of viewers handed him the wins.

Please note, by the way, that we're not counting Biden's delicious smackdown of Paul Ryan in 2012. The callow Ryan was too big of a soft and squishy target for Joe to fail. But it's worth remembering that that debate came on the heels of a terrible performance by President Obama against Willard Mitt Romney. Pundits claim that incumbents rarely do well in first debates because Presidenting is a full-time job — there's no time to strategize and prepare. Maybe. But in 2012, it was an incumbent Vice President who rode to his boss's rescue. And now that same guy has been at Camp David, being the leader of the Free World, and prepping, for days. He knows what to do. We cats wish him well, and we PURR.

NY-16 Jilts Jamaal (And That's A Good Thing)

By Baxter

A few days ago, Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman was joined at a campaign event by his House colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his fellow New Yorker and "squad" member (we hate that term). AOC campaigned enthusiastically for Bowman, but the two of them couldn't be more different. She's smart and savvy. He's an idiot.

Here's why. When you're elected to Congress, you have two immediate and overriding responsibilities: One is to your constituents, and the other is to your caucus.

AOC gets this. Personally, we think it's because Speaker Pelosi schooled her in the ways of the House when she got there in 2019. Pelosi never endangered legislation she was bringing to the floor, but she wisely gave AOC room to maneuver on various votes. At the same time, she made sure that AOC got good committee assignments, which have allowed her, even when she was a freshman, to shine. And out in the field, beyond her social media presence, AOC's been recognized for employing, yes, old-school — but effective — constituent services that help people in her district in tangible ways.

Bowman, on the other hand, failed at both. His responsibility to his caucus? Not stellar. Think back to last fall, when he pulled a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a crucial vote, just as Democrats were trying to stave off a government shutdown. Whether or not he meant to do it, it screwed up operations on the floor. The House censured him for it later.

(This is just the sort of tomfoolery that would enrage a member's leadership. Personally, we cats would never want Nancy Pelosi or Hakeem Jeffries mad at us. And yes, we know Hakeem contributed to Bowman's campaign. He has a habit of supporting his incumbents.)

Out in Bowman's district, though, his missteps were worse. He dug a deep hole for himself with his Jewish constituents after October 7, with remarks that we found unforgivable (even though he eventually apologized for them). But he could have climbed partway out of that hole by rededicating his efforts to voter outreach. Instead, he turned down Shabbat invitations and skipped meetings at Jewish community organizations. The extent of his personal interest in connecting? Asking a local Jewish leader if he had a photos of them together. "So I can show the world I'm friends with Jewish people." Ugh.

As for the money that flooded into yesterday's primary, AIPAC certainly pounced. But Bowman made himself unnecessarily vulnerable, and any well-founded screaming that's to be done about the money can't obscure that. Taking Hamas's side on anything is unacceptable, in our view. Bowman compounded it with overall foolishness: He never understood that as an elected member of Congress, he was automatically entered into the Democratic insider club. AOC has a keen understanding of how that club works, and she leverages it to her advantage by balancing it with her progressive views. Like we said, smart.

But that's Inside Baseball, isn't it? The bottom line is that if Bowman refused to meet his constituents even halfway — on the Israel-Hamas war, or anything else — that was truly not just a death knell for his Congressional career but a sadly missed opportunity. We cats HISS.

(P.S. The onus was doubly on Bowman to reach out since his district was redrawn to include less of the Bronx and more of Westchester. We cats always want to defend fellow Democrats, but we cannot condone stupidity. That's for the Trumpsters. We HISS again.)

Cats, Rats And The Cup

By Sniffles

As we wait for election returns from New York and Colorado, it's worth noting that last night the Florida Panthers managed to break the curse of "Everything Trump Touches Dies," and win the Stanley Cup. 

Whew! But maybe that's because Benedict Donald hadn't tweeted about them since that fateful first post that eerily preceded Florida's embarrassing losses in Games 4, 5 and 6. Anyway, congrats, Cats — although you could have wrapped it up a lot earlier. (Playing hockey as late as Saint Jean-Baptiste Day is scandalous.)

Meanwhile, pundits are predicting Trump's veep reveal for this week. Here are two possible takes: 1) They'll announce it on Thursday before the debate, either right before, or right after they declare he's skipping the debate entirely. 2) Or they'll announce it on Friday to overwhelm the coverage that ensues after Trump shows up at the debate and turns in a disastrous performance.

And hmmm, maybe Friday the Supreme Court will finally get around to issuing its decision on Presidential immunity. What a week! — and it's only Tuesday. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Roevember Is Coming

 

By Hubie and Bertie

For the last two years, reproductive freedom has been the winning message at the polls. Which is the only good news delivered by the despicable Dobbs decision. As upset as we cats were that jackasses like Samuel Alito and the Trump-picked Supremes were making American women's (and men's) personal decisions for them — and hamstringing medical professionals' ability to provide healthcare — we were relieved to at least be on offense for a change.

After 40 years of playing defense to the Christian right, we're able to marshal our forces now, because people's lives across the country are being affected. Dobbs is determining where millions of Americans decide to live, work, go to college, practice medicine, and more.

Should we pro-choicers have communicated better over the years about what a crucial role abortion plays in protecting women's health? Absolutely. But now we have to focus on what we've been doing since June 24, 2022: winning elections. LFG, as they say. We cats PURR.

Debate Divination

By Miss Kubelik

Gee, Team Trump is running out of time to make excuses for not showing up at Thursday night's Presidential debate. Although their minions sure are pushing the "Biden must be tested for drugs" line hard, aren't they? Tells you something.

So instead of not backing out, perhaps the plan is to have Trump show up — but stalk off as soon as something happens that he doesn't like (like the muted microphone rule that he has, of course, agreed to).

If he does turn up, recall that Trump knows nothing about policy — which he wouldn't be able to discuss anyway, thanks to his cognitive decline. So his only recourse will be to act like a drama queen, particularly if Biden does something very Dark Brandon-y.

For example, say that Biden points out how many elections Democrats have won since SCOTUS overturned Roe two years ago tomorrow. Or mentions that Trump couldn't fill a Temple University venue that Biden himself had packed in Philadelphia earlier. Or maybe he'll make a joke about whether Trump's probation officer knows where he is. The possibilities are endless, and any one of them could cause (allow?) Benedict Donald to flounce away in a huff.

We're still betting Trump doesn't show, but if he does choose the walk-off route, you heard it here first. We cats PURR.

P.S. A warning to journalists out there: In your run-up to Thursday as well as in your after-coverage, please don't treat the debate as if it's normal. It won't be. We cats HISS.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Saturday Stuff Edition

By Zamboni

The heat is breaking a bit in Upstate New York — what a relief! Here's a hodgepodge of stories and events we're following today.

Mad Dog PAC is kicking up quite a rumpus in South Florida with its "No to Dictators, No to Trump" billboards and trucks. That's good! Why should someone oppose Fidel Castro's autocracy but be okay with Benedict Donald's? Mad Dog also promises more, so here's how you can chip in.

Just for the record, the Ten Commandments have never seemed to stop religious freaks, in all Christian denominations, from grooming and raping children. And how long before Louisiana decides it's going to ignore the Constitution and force school prayer next?

In the latest example of "Everything Trump Touches Dies," consider the Stanley Cup finals. When Benedict Donald first posted about the Florida Panthers on "Truth" Social, his failing social media site, the Cats were up 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, the Panthers have done nothing but lose — and by wide margins, too. A predictor for Trump for November, perhaps? Food for thought.

P.S. As a convicted felon, Trump is now unable to visit Edmonton, or anywhere in Canada, without special permission or criminal rehabilitation, something we suspect he'd resist.

P.P.S. Now Donald thinks people are setting up tents in airports. Is everyone so sure he's going to be able to debate? (Trump World is already preparing for disaster by claiming the debate will be rigged.)

Finally, today is National Kissing Day. We hope you like scratchy ones. We cats PURR.

We've Lost A Good Donald

By Baxter

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was holding a press conference today during a visit to Westville, Nova Scotia, when he learned that the actor Donald Sutherland had died.

"I had the opportunity when I was much younger to meet Donald Sutherland," Trudeau said, "and even as a young man who hadn't had a full exposure to the depth of brilliance of Donald Sutherland, I was deeply, deeply star-struck. He was a man with a strong presence, a brilliance in his craft, and truly, truly a great Canadian artist, and he will be deeply missed.

"My thoughts go out to Kiefer and the entire Sutherland family, as well as to all Canadians who are, no doubt, saddened to learn this, as I have right now."

Nice. Very Justin-y. And since Canadian politics (at least, on the Conservative side), have become alarmingly Trumpier and Trumpier, it occurred to us that Trudeau's rivals, had they been in his shoes today, would have been completely incapable of making such gracious off-the-cuff remarks. Ontario premier Doug Ford, or Alberta premier Danielle Smith? No way. Blaine Higgs, the Tory premier of Sutherland's birth province, New Brunswick? Nope. The super-MAGA leader of the national Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre? Inconceivable.

Meanwhile, gosh. "TCM Remembers" is going to be brutal this year. We cats PURR at Donald Sutherland, and wish him a gentle journey to the land of beautiful souls.

New Numbers

By Sniffles

While Republicans are doubling and tripling down on restricting women's reproductive rights and ignoring the Constitution by placing the Ten Commandments in Louisiana public schools (yes, the ACLU is instantly suing), President Biden is rising in the polls.

Is polling completely messed up these days? Absolutely. But since they set the news narrative, and since the best way to consume them is to examine trends over time, the latest movements are worth noting.

The big attention-getter today has been a new Fox "News" poll, in which Biden leads Benedict Donald for the first time since October. It's a seven-point gain for the President since March. But other polls are showing results, too: Echelon revealed a four-point Biden gain, a three-point gain in CBS/YouGov, and a two-point gain in Morning Consult, Yahoo/YouGov, and even The New York Times.

It's incremental — no enormous shifts — but it's steady. Here's why: As they've demonstrated in election after election over the last two years, voters are furious about Dobbs — even though Pundit World still tries to elide its influence. (Surely that's because pundits and their decision-makers are mostly men.) Trump also is taking a hit from Independent and Republican voters for his 34 felony convictions. Finally, the good news about the state of the economy appears to be reaching people at last. (Okay, media, it's time for you to start reporting the economic news accurately, without GOP spin.)

How do we know that these shifts are real? Just look at the behavior of the Murdoch press (escalating cheapfake videos) and the Republicans (in near-hysteria as they defend Trump at every turn). They know they're in trouble. And if Benedict Donald keeps gabbing about sharks, slurring his words, reading the instructions on his teleprompters verbatim, bragging about Dobbs, and threatening to uncancel student loan debt, they know it'll only get worse. We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Primary Day Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

Not a bad day for us Democrats so far.

Republicans are eating their own in the GOP primary for the fifth Congressional District of Virginia, and we cats are here for it. Mega-MAGA incumbent Bob Good (who, contrary to his name, is a very bad man) is in a tight, tight race against Trump-endorsed, far-far-far-right-wing challenger John McGuire. As we write this, it's 51-49 McGuire, which is terrific, because you know that the losing candidate, whoever he is, is going to scream bloody rigging murder.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic primary to succeed Representative Abigail Spanberger — who's leaving Congress to run for Virginia Governor — it looks like Eugene Vindman is probably headed for Capitol Hill (the seventh district leans D). If that name rings a bell, it's because he was the whistleblower who helped reveal Benedict Donald's attempted extortion of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Here, right matters," he testified. Congrats, Gene! (And please add him to your House donor list.)

Meanwhile, Trump held a "show" in Wisconsin today and tried to make amends for calling Milwaukee horrible. It rang a little hollow since the news broke earlier that he will stay not in Milwaukee for the Republican Convention but in Chicago, where he has a hotel. But even more important, his slide into befuddlement continued. In his speech, he called Joe Biden "Joe Bride," accused Biden of who-knows-what in an incomprehensible word salad, and rambled on about sharks again. Will he even make it to the convention? We'll see. We cats HISS.

UPDATE, June 19: This is so great. VA-05 is too close to call, with McGuire leading by 327 votes, 50.26 percent to Good's 49.74 percent. And the vote count was halted — and remained halted all day — in observance of Juneteenth. Two right-wing Republicans left on tenterhooks because of a Biden-endorsed holiday for Black Americans. Dark Brandon couldn't have planned it better! We cats PURR.

The Method Behind The MAGA Madness

By Miss Kubelik

Have you noticed how the stories about Joe Biden's mental acuity have ratcheted up again? The onslaught from the right-wing media — and its transparent fakiness — have captured clever political cartoonists' attention. But whether voters are taking it at face value is worrisome.

There's a very simple reason for this. It's Benedict Donald whose mental state is deteriorating, and the Republicans and Trump-loving media are terrified that it will seep into the public narrative. How do we know? Simply by the frenzied way they're overselling his competence ("Donald is upbeat! Donald is happy! Donald is confident!") and projecting a nonexistent dementia problem onto Biden.

They're right to worry. Just the other day, Trump himself boasted that he had aced a mental competence test, and then couldn't remember the name of the White House physician who gave it to him. It wasn't "Ronny Johnson" — it was Ronny Jackson, now an idiot Congressman from Texas who's probably exploring the possibility of changing his name to honor the GOP's orange god. (After all, Ronna Romney did.)

So, what is Team Trump doing right now? Trying to figure out the right balance of drugs — Adderall, whatever — that will keep Benedict Donald vertical and able to respond in, at least, short, recorded video interviews. But a live debate? Doesn't seem possible, and it's supposed to take place in less than two weeks. Which means they're trying to figure out his excuses to back out. At some point, perhaps some political journalist will realize he or she is being played, and will start asking the right questions. Until that happens, we cats HISS.

(IMAGE: Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Catalog Of Criminality

Whoever created this video has performed a valuable public service, lest we're ever tempted to become inured to the cosmic awfulness of Benedict Donald. It's a handy list of misdeeds that you can share with your Republican friends (if you have any). We cats PURR.

Dark Manny

By Zamboni

Many of us were admiring French President Emmanuel Macron last week during the D-Day commemorations. He staged an absolutely brilliant event, complete with surviving veterans, visiting dignitaries, great music, and presentations of the Légion d'Honneur, the highest decoration France can bestow. All in all, a fabulous job.

Macron quickly followed it with a gutsy political decision: He dissolved Parliament and called a snap election for June 30 (with a runoff scheduled for July 7). He did this in the wake of the EU Parliamentary elections, which saw most of Europe holding the line against the far right — except for France and Germany.

The snap elections are big risk on Macron's part. Although his coalition failed to gain a parliamentary majority two years ago, he's betting that France was merely blowing off steam in the EU vote — and will get serious about allowing the anti-Semitic, anti-Ukraine far right any real participation in government going forward.

So far, it looks like Macron made a very informed bet. Candidate slates must be finalized this weekend, and the French left quickly unified, with the Socialists, the Greens, the Communists and the Unbowed agreeing on a platform and a joint-governance agreement. Meanwhile, the right has descended into a cat fight so cartoonish that it resembles the Michigan Republican Party — deals with shady characters, demands for resignations, and one party leader literally barricading himself in his office to avoid being run out of town on a rail. All with less than two weeks to campaign — assuming they can resolve it.

It's always dicey to compare countries' political situations, but we cats think that Macron realized his far-right factions were very Trumpy — in short, that they were wedded to the concept that you either get 100 percent, or nothing. And Macron was willing to wager that if he called a snap election, unlike the left — which is far more practical — the right would be caught short, and end up in ultra-disarray.

In fact, take this a step further: Did Macron discuss this behind the scenes with President Biden during the D-Day observances last week? It would be just the sort of thing that Dark Brandon would be able to provide canny advice on. Prove us wrong. We cats PURR.

Meanwhile, Here's What Dark Brandon Did Today

While Congressional Republicans were appeasing Trump, President Biden and the G7 were fighting back against Russian aggression. We cats PURR.

Trouble Is Brewin'

 

By Baxter

Benedict Donald's trip back to Capitol Hill today was fraught with danger for him (unless, of course, you read the Associated Press). And he didn't disappoint us, talking about Hannibal Lecter like he was a real person again and making weird statements about Nancy Pelosi. As a result, questions about his cognitive decline — and his supporters' frantic efforts to distract everyone by projecting mental problems onto Joe Biden — are starting to show up in our news feeds.

If journalists are starting to come around on this issue, it's good news — and the timing is just about right. For example, it's two weeks to that Presidential debate that we're sure Trump will be incapable of participating in. We're waiting to see what his excuse will be.

But Trump's biggest own goal today was probably the comment he made about Milwaukee, the host city of next month's Republican National Convention. The RNC obviously chose Milwaukee because it's the largest city in a crucial battleground state. And Team Trump instantly panicked, coming out with about five different explanations for the insult, none of which passed the smell test. (Donald's also scheduled to visit Racine soon. Wonder how that will go?) 

Meanwhile, Democrats are having a field day, on social media and elsewhere. In fact, MadDogPAC has already created a billboard (above) that will go up near the Milwaukee airport tomorrow. Great work! — but expensive. If you'd like to chip in, click here. We cats PURR.

Republicans Underperform Again

By Sniffles

Pundit World wasn't paying much attention to yesterday's special election in Ohio's sixth Congressional district, but we cats were. We wrote Postcards to Voters on behalf of Mike Kripchak, the Democratic candidate, to fill the remainder of Republican Bill Johnson's term until November. (Bill Johnson resigned to become head of Youngstown State University, complicating Mike Johnson's life by making his House majority even narrower than it already was.)

The sixth district is deeply red. Benedict Donald won it in 2020 by nearly 30 points. But as the Postcards people pointed out, "Anything is possible in a special election if we mobilize our voters." How true that was: The GOP candidate, Michael Rulli, won by nine percentage points — well below his expected margin.

You might say, nine points is a lot. Yep. But Rulli's saggy showing should be keeping Republicans up at night. He won key counties in the district by margins that were eye-poppingly smaller than Trump's were four years ago. For example, Rulli won Noble County by 28 points (compared with Trump taking it by 63). Benedict Donald carried Washington County 70 percent to 29 percent in 2020 — Rulli only won it by just 53 to 47. And Democrats absolutely dominated the early and mail-in vote.

(Side note: It would be fascinating if a dedicated and smart political journalist would check how much of Rulli's money — of which he had vastly more than Kripchak did — went for TV and consultants, and how much for grass-roots organizing. But sadly, that kind of journalist doesn't seem to exist anymore. Still, we can dream, can't we?)

This fall, we'll be throwing our big-dollar donations at House races that are closer than OH-06. But with Rulli and Kripchak set to face off again on November 5 for a full term, make no mistake: Kripchak and Ohio Democrats have their playbook ready, and we'll be writing more postcards. After all, anything is possible. We cats PURR.

Loved.

 

 (PHOTO: Andrew Caballero, AFP via Getty.)

Hunted.

By Hubie and Bertie

There really was no good outcome to the Hunter Biden trial today. A guilty verdict, which has just happened, is a further sad development for a family that's already beleaguered in many ways. But a not-guilty verdict would have set Republicans and MAGAts off on a maddening new wave of faux outrage over a "two-tiered" justice system.

Looking at reactions online, we'd have to say that the guilty verdict was preferable. Not because Hunter particularly deserved it — he certainly wouldn't have been prosecuted if his last name weren't Biden — but because this decision by a jury of his peers in his home state has effectively taken the sword out of the Trumpsters' tiny hands.

"Hunter Biden has been struggling to get and stay clean for years," former Republican consultant Rick Wilson tweeted. "It’s a story millions of American families understand. He’s been found guilty, and he will pay the price. That's how this works, MAGA."

So, a development that could have had political ramifications had it gone the other way will probably have none. Nevertheless, our main thought today is how large the death of Beau looms over the Biden family. It appears that for survivors like Hunter and Hallie, everything started seriously spiraling after that. We cats hope they're able to find strength in one another, and we PURR.

Lest We Furr-get: Merle Must Be Spinning

By Miss Kubelik

Is it better that right-wing country singer Merle Haggard died before Benedict Donald stole the 2016 election? Haggard used to make liberals crazy back in the day, and he no doubt would have been insufferable when Trump was in charge. Then again, maybe not. What would Merle say if he were still around?

Because Donald Trump has been spending an awful lot of time trashing the United States. We're "a nation in decline!" "A failing nation!" "A third-world country!" Everything sucks, because Biden and the Democrats are leading the nation into "servitude and ruin." Hm.

None of it is true, of course, and not just because everything Trump says is a lie. Joe Biden has been a good and successful President. We've recovered from COVID, our economy is the envy of the world, and our allies are united behind us once again. But even though Trump fibs like he breathes, Merle Haggard would be very mad. Remember this song?

Hear people talkin' bad about the way we have to live here in this country
Harpin' on the wars we fight, an' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be
An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides, an' standin' up for things they believe in
When they're runnin' down my country, man
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me
Runnin' down a way of life our fightin' men have fought and died to keep
If you don't love it, leave it
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'
When you're runnin' down my country, man
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

 

Congratulations, Benedict Donald and the Republicans who support him! You've just landed on super-patriot Merle Haggard's fightin' side. Even with nine lives, we never thought we'd see it. We cats HISS.

EU: The Center Holds

 

It would be really nice if we Americans could emulate the Europeans and hold our elections on Sundays. (Or at least make Election Day a national holiday.) Either way, more people voting is a good thing. And speaking of Sunday elections, today's results for the European Union Parliament are encouraging (okay, except for France). Polls predicted the far right would capture 20 percent of the seats, but it looks like they'll end up with less than 10 percent. Excellent news, and a reminder of the fallibility of polling, yes? We cats PURR.

How To Be A Good Corporate Citizen

By Zamboni

When Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, he created a lifelong advocate against gun violence. Fred Guttenberg's daughter Jaime was murdered that day, and since then he's devoted himself full-time to reducing gun deaths, restricting ownership of firearms, and supporting President Biden. We love Fred.

And, as Fred has made clear, the Florida Panthers have been very supportive of the entire Marjory Stoneman Douglas community.

"On February 22, 2018, the Panthers memorialized those lost and put up photos of everyone killed at MSD," Fred tweeted today. "What most people did not know at the time is that the MSD hockey team was on its way to earning a spot to playing in the national championship. The Florida Panthers [paid] for the kids to travel through the national championship, and provided the team plane for them to fly on. That is not all that they did.

"In March 2018, the Florida Panthers had the MSD hockey team come to the arena for an on-ice training with our favorite former player, Shawn Thornton. Again, that is not all that they did. At the end of the skate, unknown to everyone participating, the team arranged to have the Stanley Cup at the building. It was brought out for the kids to not only see, but to skate with as well."

How swell is that? We cats were Miami residents and season-ticket holders for the Panthers in 1995-96 — which is reason enough for us to root for them in the Stanley Cup this year. But Fred's story gives us even more of a boost. Let's go, Cats! We (lower-case) cats PURR.

By George!

By Baxter

Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show is not the most erudite political interlocutor, but his hosting of George Conway last night was one of the most important interviews of the 2024 election. In 13 minutes, Conway boils down in plain language the current threat to democracy known as Donald Trump. (Conway doesn't get into the question of the horrifying enablers of the GOP, but that's probably a topic for another show.)

Conway's Trump summation is perfect because it's directed not at us political junkies, but at most Americans — folks who haven't really been tuned in until recently, and who need a quick refresher on what is going on. It's also perfect because, as Chieng points out, Conway carries extra credibility as a conservative Republican. Additional fun facts: He's the former husband of Trumpster KellyAnne, and he's given close to a million dollars to support President Joe Biden's re-election.

As if all that weren't good enough, he mentions Trump's narcissism and cognitive decline. With interviews like this, the mainstream media will not be able to ignore Trump's mental issues much longer. Donald's performance on the stump has featured erratic word salads and incomplete thoughts. His recent sit-down interviews, with Fox & Friends and "Dr." Phil, were not live, and were heavily edited. Sooner or later (probably sooner), the political press will have to admit that Trump will never be able to debate Joe Biden — not in three weeks, not ever.

Meanwhile, President Biden is in France, rallying the free world to the cause of democracy. We cats are happy to be Biden-Harris supporters on the right side of history, and we PURR.

"This Time, I Know Our Side Will Win"

 

Casablanca never gets old. Especially since, unfortunately, Nazis never seem to go away. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Justin Trudeau Introduces Volodymyr Zelenskyy To One Of The Greatest Generation

Lots of great moments in Normandy this afternoon. This is our favorite video from an amazing and wonderful day. We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: "Madness, Madness" Edition

By Sniffles

Just when you think the Trumpsters, MAGAts and Republicans who enable them couldn't get any crazier, they do. Here are some antics from just this week that conjure up the last line of dialog from Bridge on the River Kwai.

Marjorie Taylor Greene proposed cutting US funding to NATO just as Western leaders, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, gathered for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. If that weren't bad enough, 46 House Republicans signed on with her.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville visited soon-to-be-inmate Steve Bannon's podcast and said that Vladimir Putin "doesn't want Ukraine...doesn't want Europe. Hell, he's got enough land of his own."

Speaker Mike Johnson has named Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry, who had his phone seized by the feds as part of the January 6 investigation, and Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, the MD who ran a pill mill out of the Trump White House, to the House Intelligence Committee. This means that both Perry and Jackson will see some of our most sensitive information about the US and our allies.

Team Trump just released a short video of Benedict Donald in which he's literally foaming at the mouth. It's unclear why they didn't just reshoot it, but their attacks on Biden's age sure have ramped up recently.

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds said that his fellow Black Americans were better off under Jim Crow.

Senate Republicans voted to block a bill to guarantee access to contraception, which the Democrats introduced in the wake of the GOP's war on reproductive rights. The CDC estimates that 98 percent of women have used some form of birth control while they were sexually active, and 90 percent have had a partner who used a condom.

What do we do in response to this idiocy? Storm the polls this November like Wonder Woman crossing No Man's Land. We cats PURR.

Here, Time Magazine, We Fixed It For You

By Hubie and Bertie

Actually, this revamped cover is the fine work of one of the Twitter accounts we follow, and we love it. Looks like this was quite the feisty Dark Brandon interview. It should be: Joe Biden has an astonishing record of accomplishment to run on, and he should take his victory laps and ding his opponents, because that tends to make people notice.

For example, see how he opened today's White House announcement about his executive order on immigration: "I've come here today to do what Republicans in Congress refuse to do: Take the necessary steps to secure our border." He slammed Benedict Donald for killing Senator James Lankford's bipartisan immigration legislation earlier this year.

This is an excellent move, since not everyone may have caught the news a few months ago. But now, post-Trump-criminal-conviction, when more people are paying attention, it's good for Biden to remind them.

The albatross that is Benedict Donald might dawning on Republicans, too. A poll conducted May 24-26 shows that one in three of them thinks that Trump is the wrong choice of nominee — and that was just days before he was convicted in Manhattan. Imagine what the point spread could be now.

So it'll be interesting to see how the so-called Nikki Haley protest vote shakes out in today's final Presidential primaries in Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico. Will Haley's typical 15 percent expand? Trump is even worse — more extreme — today than he was in 2020, and in addition to being a convicted felon (Republicans hate it when we point that out), he's deteriorating mentally.

Watch the clip that people are sharing from 2016, in which Trump screams about Hillary Clinton's nonexistent crimes and how America can't afford to have a felon even run for the White House. The difference between his speaking ability eight years ago and now is stark. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Do Not Pass Go

This amusing image has been making the rounds lately on social media. Seeing stuff like this and reading all the post-conviction coverage this weekend have been fun. It's been striking, though, how many commenters have said that Trump's 34 guilty verdicts represent the first time in his life he's ever had to suffer consequences. Really? Dude lost the 2020 election by more than seven million votes. That sounds like consequences to us, and we'll do it again this fall. We cats PURR.

Felonious Trump, Biking Brandon

By Miss Kubelik

We cats are detecting some rumblings vis-a-vis Benedict Donald and his Manhattan felony convictions. 

Looks like 49 percent of Independent voters and 15 percent of Republicans think he should drop out of the Presidential race now. (That 15 percent are Haley supporters, no doubt.) Hard-core MAGAts like MTG are going after Republican candidates like Larry Hogan in Maryland and even suggesting that New York State should stop receiving federal money. (Who's going to tell her — and what does Elise "Elsie" Stefanik think about that?)

And although the veep wannabes obediently fell in line to support their convicted felon post-verdict, we know that that's about. They're jockeying for the next slot the moment that Donald finally disintegrates.

Meanwhile, President Biden went cycling in Delaware today. We hear that he biked for 34 minutes. You gotta love it.

As for the alleged cash haul that the Trump campaign has raked in since Thursday, we'll believe it when we see it. (Somebody remember to check their FEC report, please.) But even if it's true, who cares? Are they using it to buy TV time in swing states? To open field offices in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina? Sharing it with down-ballot Republican candidates? Nope — it's all going for legal fees. We cats PURR.