Check, Check, And Recheck Your Registration

By Baxter

It's almost Labor Day, which marks what used to be the official start of the fall campaign season, when TV ads would start airing and rallies and events would really begin to crank up.

Everything is different now — campaigns know no start and no end. But we're entering the meaty part of the Desperate Donald Danger Zone.

The Trumpsters and Republicans know they're deep in dirtied cat litter for the midterms and beyond. Voters are furious about gas and grocery prices, the needless war in Iran, the neglect of our soldiers and sailors, the snatching of innocent people off the streets, and the raping of our national parks. Republican candidates across the country are weak, lazy, and/or bad campaigners (looking at you, Ken Paxton), and they're trying to fend off challenges from strong, confident Democrats. Turnout for the primaries and special elections since Trump started wrecking the country has soared. Just about the only thing the GOP has in its favor is its war chest, but even money can't beat determined voters (just ask Elon Musk about that Supreme Court race in Wisconsin).

So, they've ratcheted up their suppression tactics — remove mail-in voting, or drop-boxes where they can't erase it. Threaten to put ICE at polling places. And now comes this news from Texas: More than one million people on the voter rolls have been "suspended."

"The designation, which means that the voter's county doesn’t know their address or thinks they’ve moved, doesn’t stop people from voting in November’s midterm elections, but it does make the process more difficult," The New Republic explains. "If a voter shows up on Election Day and their registration is suspended, they have to fill out a statement of residenc” form, and if they’ve moved to a new county, they’ll either be required to vote in their old one or be given a provisional ballot."

Our first reaction was, wow, Gregg Abbott must really be worried. But this has to be stopped.

Texans, you have until October 5 to check your registration and correct it if there are any problems. Visit VoteTexas.gov, call 800-252-VOTE, or email elections@sos.texas.gov today.

And everybody else? Check your registration anyway, even if you live in a blue state, and especially if you live in a red one. And keep checking, up until the deadline in your state to register for the midterms. Click here. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Target: Jon (And You)

By Hubie and Bertie

So Trump is speaking to the nation tomorrow night about — what, exactly? Iran? Greenland? Election security? A "potpourri"? We have no idea. But rumor has it that he's going to "reveal declassified intelligence" on 2020 "election fraud" in Georgia, and call duly elected US Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff "illegitimate."

This will be Trump's newest salvo in his war against the 2026 midterms, which he knows he's going to lose. But it's not going to work, for lots of reasons. One, for us, sticks out.

First, for a little refresher course, let's step back a few years to the resignation of Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, who stepped down in late 2019 due to health reasons. Governor Brian Kemp then appointed Kelly Loeffler to serve the remainder of Isakson's term. Loeffler was an ineffective doofus who was primarily known for her good hair. (She's head of the SBA now, and is currently stinking up the place with her performance there, too, as you'd expect.)

Anyway, Raphael Warnock beat Loeffler in the special election runoff on January 5, 2021 — the same day that Jon Ossoff beat Georgia's other Senator, David Perdue. That election flipped the Senate to the Democrats. (And we all know what happened on January 6.)

The thing is, though, after that, Warnock ran for a full term in 2022, and he won — so how by any logic could he possibly be "illegitimate"? It also means he won't be up for re-election again until 2028. By our way of thinking, then, Trump's targeting of Warnock and Ossoff is really mostly about Ossoff, who is on the ballot this fall. 

Despite Kellyanne Conway's mocking tweet back in 2017, Trump and the Republicans are scared of Ossoff — big time. And Ossoff's masterful performance during the Jay Clayton/DNI hearing today will only increase their fear (that, and the margin by which Ossoff leads the hapless, election-denying fool Mike Collins in recent polls).

Here's a swell idea that applies to both Georgia Senators: The moment Trump starts speaking tomorrow night, go to Ossoff's site (and Warnock's site) and send each of them a few bucks. Make a statement. Tell Trump you won't let him deny Georgians' votes — and yours. We cats PURR.

"There May Be Trouble Ahead"

By Zamboni

We all know by now that Benedict Donald is a malignant narcissist, right? Heck, way back in 2019, someone who knew him well wrote a whole article on it. "Trump's ingrained and extreme behavioral characteristics make it impossible for him to carry out the duties of the presidency in the way the Constitution requires," said George Conway.

Since then, things have gotten worse — much worse. Donald's tendencies are showing themselves more and more, past his handlers' ability to contain. The most recent ones are almost too numerous to list. But check out this description and see if it doesn't fit Trump to a tee:

"Malignant narcissists are driven by an underlying sense of profound inadequacy, shame, and a desperate need to avoid being perceived as weak. Because their ego is entirely reliant on maintaining an illusion of superiority, they fear humiliation above all else."

Why? "Beneath their grandiose and often ruthless exterior lies a deeply insecure core. To compensate for their fragile self-worth, they utilize control and dominance. Humiliation strips away the power and leverage they use to manipulate others."

Wow. We can all marvel at how millions of people could look at someone like Trump and say, yeah, I want that guy in the Oval Office instead of the smart Black lady. (Or the smart white lady eight years ago.) But the bit about humiliation is worth worrying about. Because Donald has had a lot of it lately. Reflecting pool, anyone?

And tonight, there's more: The Senate has passed the Iran War Powers Act, 50 to 48. (Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, and Paul voted "yes." McConnell and McCormick were absent.) With the House having passed it already, it heads to Trump's desk. He'll veto it, of course — reminding zillions of midterm voters how much they hate the stupid war and what it's done to their pocketbooks. Tomorrow's Senate luncheon should be mighty interesting, yes? (Trump is planning to attend.) In the meantime, though, his behavior is concerning: A cornered narcissist is capable of just about anything. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: The reflecting pool at the Obama Presidential Center, Chicago. This is how you do it.)

Citizen Trump Is Very Unhappy

By Sniffles

Here we go again. Not only did Benedict Donald shovel his "rigged election" nonsense at Kristen Welker this weekend, Preacher of the House Mikey Johnson and other Trumpy minions are taking up the call, mostly complaining about California.

They're doing it for a couple of reasons.

First, their preferred candidates (particularly Spencer Pratt) are faltering in Tuesday's jungle primary. Second, it's preparation for the November midterms, of course — they're laying the groundwork to cast doubt on everything. Why does it take soooooooo loooooooonnnnnnggg to count the votes in California? There must be fraud!

Nope, nope, nopity nope. Here's a quick explainer, courtesy of Marc Elias and Democracy Docket:

California is huge: It has 40 million people. Estimates are that 23 million voters cast ballots in the primary. Trump, whose math skills aren't much above the sixth-grade level, should try counting 23 million votes and see how long it takes. 

California is a universal vote-by-mail state. It sends mail-in ballots to every registered voter. Lots of people use them.

California counts all ballots that people mailed on time, even if they're received after Election Day.

California verifies all ballots before they're counted. (Which means, guess what — there's no fraud!)

California allows voters to fix any mistakes — like adding missing signatures —so their votes can count.

In short, California is one of the most voter-friendly states in the nation. No wonder Trump and his henchmen constantly attack it. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: From Citizen Kane, 1940. Authoritarians screaming about rigged elections is nothing new.)

Every Little Breeze Seems To Whisper Louise

By Zamboni

If you're looking for something to propose in response to Benedict Donald's ridiculous Third Reich-y Washington "arch," folks on social media have the perfect solution: a towering monument to State Senator Louise Lucas, who championed the redistricting referendum that Virginia voters passed yesterday.

Republicans, who kicked off all this redistricting nonsense with their power grab in Texas (a question which, by the way, they never put directly to the voters), immediately asked the Tazewell County circuit court to pause certification of the amendment, which was granted. 

But they're just delaying the inevitable. "Republicans have repeatedly taken challenges to the Virginia referendum to a local judge in the most conservative part of the state to get silly rulings that are immediately overturned on appeal," Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said. "The Virginia Supreme Court will have the last say on the referendum."

Benedict Donald must see the writing on the wall, because he's bleating about "RIGGED" elections again. What a pathetic, projecting loser. "What started in Texas didn’t stay in Texas, and what started here will not stay here either," Senator Lucas said. "Virginia sent a message: If you try to rig the system, we fight back. If you try to take powers from voters, we will take it right back." Can someone please get started on that Lucas statue? Meanwhile, we cats salute her, and we PURR.

Donald Messes With Maine

By Miss Kubelik

Susan Collins is not our favorite person, but it's hard to imagine her on the receiving end of one of Benedict Donald's "profanity-laced rants."

That's how The Hill described a call that Trump made to Collins after she joined four Republican Senate colleagues to support Senator Tim Kaine's war powers resolution on Venezuela. But more important, Donald's just put the Maine Senate race into a tizzy. The five Republicans, he said, "should never be elected to office again."

Um. Collins is up this year, and like nearly every Republican in 2026, it seems, she's vulnerable. GOP members of the Senate went nuts. "You’re s—g on her on this sort of stuff?" one told a reporter (anonymously, of course). "It’s almost reminiscent of 'Don’t come to vote for the Georgia Senators. It’s not worth your while.'" Oh, faceless, nameless and gutless Republican Senator, thank you for taking us back to the day the Peach State elected Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. It makes us grin.

She won't show it, but Susan Collins is probably mad. And if she really wants to get back at Trump, we have a suggestion: Go all the way up to the March filing deadline, and then at 4 PM that day, announce she's retiring. She'd strand the Republicans with no candidate. It won't happen, but it's fun to think about. We cats PURR.

Texas, Hold On

By Hubie and Bertie

The Epstein Files dominated the headlines today, but there was potentially bigger news for all of us who care about democracy — a three-judge panel blocked Texas Republicans' mid-decade Congressional district map, saying the state must use its 2021 map in 2026.

The judge who authored the ruling was, HAHAHAHA, a Trump appointee. He wrote, "To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map, but it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map." The Trumpsters, as you'd expect, are screaming and crying to SCOTUS. But there could be snags.

The deadline for candidates to file for the 2026 Congressional primaries is Monday, December 8. Voters head for the polls on March 3.

Which means uncertainty abounds. Will the Supreme Court take up the Republicans' appeal? If so, will they rule quickly enough for this super-tight time frame? We're already 10 days into the filing period. 

"[Today's] ruling has set off a cascade of political maneuvering among members of both parties who had been operating under the notion that the Republican map would stick," The Texas Tribune explains. "Democrats, rather than facing retirement or primaries against fellow incumbents, are now freed up to run in their current districts. The bevy of Republican candidates who had signed up to run in districts newly drawn to favor them will now have to hope for an intervention from the Supreme Court or face far less favorable election prospects."

Kind of a mess, yes?

Republicans absolutely deserve all this. Instead of racing to obey Dear Leader and tearing up maps on their own, they should have asked the voters to approve their redistricting plan. Gee, who just did that very thing? California! Just imagine if the Texas map is blocked next year, but California's under Prop 50 isn't. We cats PURR.

Pobre Donaldo

By Zamboni

Without addressing the sheer ridiculousness of the Trump "campaign" for the Nobel Peace Prize, we cats are tickled pink that María Corina Machado of Venezuela won it this morning. (Even more amusingly, one of our fave Nobel candidates, Chef José Andrés, tweeted in Donald's face: "In a way, this is your win, too." That's going to drive the Spotlight-Hogger-in-Chief out of his tiny mind.)

Machado has been in hiding since Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro refused to accept the results of the country's election last year (sound familiar?). "Maduro remains in power and has retained the support of Venezuela's military and key international backers such as China and Russia," The Guardian reports. "Donald Trump has ordered a major naval buildup off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast in recent weeks, which some suspect could be a prelude to some kind of regime change operation."

Maybe, maybe not. But two things seem true this morning: Vladimir Putin is not happy with the Nobel Committee. And the Trumpsters will surely try to gin up any looming US conflict with Maduro's Venezuela to give Donald the "emergency" he needs to declare martial law. (Which he can't do anyway, by the way).

So, Trump is having to start his day not getting what he wants — an award that he only desires because a Black man who's made him feel puny and inadequate for years received it in 2009. And the MAGAts must already be gearing up for next year's "campaign," yes? We'll see how the Gaza thing works out. Because here's a reminder: Jimmy Carter won the Nobel in 2002 not for his efforts at Middle East peace, but for the international humanitarian work of The Carter Center over two decades. (That mission continues today.) We cats PURR.

"Crazy Eyes" Griffin Throws In The Towel

By Miss Kubelik

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he'd be suing Jefferson Griffin for unlawful use of his name. We've always wondered how a Republican nutcase who refused to abide the will of the people could be linked in any way to the author of the Declaration of Independence. (You know, that document that slams princes who impose their "arbitrary will" over the rule of law? That one.)

Anyhoo, Not-Jefferson Griffin has finally, finally, finally admitted that he lost the 2024 North Carolina Supreme Court race to Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. Republicans will no doubt praise Griffin for his patriotism and selflessness — completely ignoring the fact that he, and they, have spent the last six months trying to overturn a fair election.

Which means the headlines that say "Griffin concedes" should actually be "Republican Stops Attempt to Steal Supreme Court Seat." Or, the press could compare Griffin's behavior to Al Gore's in 2000 — except for the fact that Gore accepted a judicial decision immediately, whereas Griffin... didn't. He tried to toss out thousands of cast ballots, including those from military members serving overseas.

Nevertheless, it's a relief, because had the situation gone the other way, it could have been disastrous for American democracy. And not just here at home, because antidemocratic behavior is sadly contagious. For example, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in Canada still has not called Liberal Bruce Fanjoy to concede defeat in his Ontario riding. It's not just pathetic, childish, and disgusting, but the first step to unraveling our electoral systems. We cats HISS.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Three Weeks To Go Edition

By Zamboni

Tomorrow marks three weeks until Election Day! Do you have a plan to vote? We do, which is why we have time to peruse what's making the news across the nation. Here are some of the stories that caught our eye.

Now that Vice President Harris has agreed to an interview on Fox "News," it's worth remembering that just over a year ago, Benedict Donald was furious at Fox anchor Bret Baier for conducting a "nasty" interview with him. "Everything was like unfriendly. No smiling, no let’s have fun, let’s Make America Great Again," Trump whined. We don't know what questions Baier will ask Harris on Wednesday, but you can be sure that every one of her answers will be designed to get under Donald's thin skin.

It's a great move by Team Harris, because she's been blanketing the airwaves with interviews while Trump chickened out of a second debate and the traditional appearance on 60 Minutes. It's clear that Donald's handlers have decided he's mentally incapable of doing the kinds of interviews Harris is — in fact, Trump's even confirmed it through his usual breathtaking projection, calling for her to take a cognitive test. He knows he's slipping. At some point, he probably will cease to know.

Which is why he needs to release his medical records as Harris has. A group of 238 healthcare providers agrees. They've signed a letter calling for more transparency (that is, beyond the idiotically, glowing reports from Ronny Jackson). "As we all age, we lose sharpness and revert to base instincts," the physicians said. "We are seeing that from Trump, as he uses his rallies and appearances to ramble, meander, and crudely lash out at his many perceived grievances."

(We're seeing rumors that Trump may have had a bit of a cognitive episode at a "town hall" event in Pennsylvania tonight. More details when we get them.)

On another subject, we're still waiting for Elise "Elsie" Stefanik to object to Trump's alleged plan to change military bases' names back to honor Confederate generals. Doesn't she know that her state, New York, lost 38,000 sons in the Civil War? Doesn't she care?

Finally, Halloween is just a few weeks off, which may be why Last Week Tonight was scaring us about the many ways Benedict Donald will try to sow doubt about the election. One of the most important actions you can take is to check — and re-check — your voter registration. You can do that here. And vote early, so that if you run into any problems, you can get them fixed before November 5. We cats PURR.

"So What"? Here's What.

By Hubie and Bertie

Football fans famously say that when the chips are down, you can win in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Or, at least... we think so. We cats aren't into that particular game, mostly because we just don't understand downs. But we get the concept of pulling out a last-second victory as the clock ticks down.

Earlier today, folks were saying that Coach Walz won last night's debate in the final minutes, when he shamed JD Vance over January 6. You have to wonder if "That's a damning non-answer" is the harshest response a Minnesota nice guy can give. Whether it is or not, what Walz said was absolutely correct. Vance was smarmy and unbelievable.

And we were pleasantly surprised, because all the talking heads had assured us that Team Harris was not going to focus on the 2021 insurrection the way Team Biden wanted to. But here was Walz, directly addressing Vance and asking him if Trump lost in 2020 or not. (What an indictment of today's journalists, by the way.)

Turns out, Walz's timing was perfect, because today's unsealing of Jack Smith's filing against Benedict Donald in the January 6 case shows just how contemptuous of democracy Team Trump was. Lots of new information revealed in 165 pages, including Donald's "so what" response to an aide's concern for Mike Pence's safety. If that doesn't give JD Vance pause, we don't know what will.

The bottom line is that with a mere month to go, January 6 has once again become — and will remain — part of the 2024 election conversation. Sorry, JD. We cats PURR.

Donald's Upset He Lost To A Girl

By Sniffles

Here's a quick note for this evening: Vice President Harris has accepted a second debate with Benedict Donald on CNN on October 23. But Donald has rejected the idea as "too late."

Never mind that back in 2020, the final debate before Election Day was October 22. So what's the diff?

In other words, Trump is gaslighting. He was faced with a Hobson's Choice — debate again and get creamed by Harris, or refuse and look like a chicken. Hence his grasping for a lame excuse that can get easily checked. Will any journalists hold him to account? (Cue laughter.)

Our thought was this: If your ultimate plan is to scream "fraud," do you really need to do another debate? On the other hand, if subverting an election is Donald's playbook, he should be mindful of the number of Democratic governors in swing states and the fact that Biden and Harris are in charge in DC. We cats PURR.

Madam Vice President Spice Girl

By Baxter

On Saturday, Vice President Harris took a break from debate prep to pop into a spice store in Pittsburgh. Her reception was rapturous. (You can watch the viral video of her visit here.)

Trumpsters were so rattled by this event that they immediately started attacking Harris for an alleged inability to relate to people. And everyone in the world who had seen the video said, "Huh?" (Just remember, everything Benedict Donald and his minions say is always, always projection and a confession.)

Since those attacks didn't land, they also went after the spice company itself, Penzeys. (Yep, we checked: They don't use an apostrophe in their name.) Headquartered in Wisconsin, they have 30 stores across the country, and they ship nationwide. They also are not shy about their disdain for what the Republican Party has become. Check out this page on their website for details.

But Penzeys didn't stop there. Owner Bill Penzey sent out an email about Harris's visit and what's happened afterward. (He also promoted a limited-time-only offer on gift boxes.) Here's some of what he said:

"Because of all she is and just who our customers are, the video of [Harris's] visit has been continuously playing on TV news and has received millions and millions of online views ever since. There are good reasons views have spread like wildfire. She's a cook. She cares. And in our store built to celebrate the kindness at the heart of cooking, surrounded by kindred caring cooks, the goodness of the moment went off the charts. Whoosh!

"Never has the media of the right tried as hard to boycott us or 'Bud Light' us as they are trying right now. Lots of angry emails coming my way. Nothing new, just a little more intense than it's been in a while.

"I'm right there with Vice President Harris on it being time to bring America together. Oddly enough, this weekend has me right there with Vice President Dick Cheney as well. But getting the Cheneys on board started with them being honest about today's Republican Party having taken a wrong turn.

"The right wing has amped up their anger at us as a punishment for us welcoming Kamala into our store. They are also doing this in hopes of deterring any other store from doing the same. Not letting them win at this would be a good thing." We cats agree, and we PURR.

And The Grievance Goes On

By Sniffles

There's been some hand-wringing on social media today over a certain New York Times poll, even though it shows Vice President Harris and Benedict Donald... well, tied. Yes, we know— clear-thinking people simply can't understand why the Presidential race is even close. Maybe it's because the wrong people are being polled, pollsters are asking the wrong questions, or folks just aren't as tuned into politics as we are.

Tuesday night might help sort some of this out. In the meantime, Team Harris just keeps working. (It was fun to learn that her TV ads were running during today's football games. When you have a ton of money to spend, these are the nifty things you can do.)

But Donald definitely seems to think he's losing. You can tell from the way he's escalating his rhetoric — at least, when he's able to put a coherent sentence together. "Trump has a history of railing against election officials, and raising unsubstantiated claims of fraud, when his political fortunes appear uncertain — as they do now in his extremely close race with Vice President Harris," The Washington Post reports.

What exactly did he say? Just that "WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again...this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters & Corrupt Election Officials."

Trump vowed that the cheaters would be "sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country."

Donald's punctuation continues to be a mystery, but there's an instantly recognizable shtick at work here: He's laying the foundation for claiming a Harris-Walz win to be fake. It's all he's got at this point, because he's weak, powerless and feeble. We're not saying that electing MAGA this November wouldn't be dangerous — Vice President Harris has consistently recognized that. We're just agreeing with her when, in the same breath, she calls Trump "an unserious man." We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: The Day After Donald's Conviction Edition

By Zamboni

It was a very interesting day today.

On the one hand, those of us who celebrate the primacy of the rule of law woke up with anti-hangovers — feeling great! On the other hand, members of what used to be known as the Republican Party — with very few exceptions — rushed to impugn that same rule of law in service of Benedict Donald. We cats are thinking we should spend the weekend researching the breakup of the Whig Party in the 1850s to see if there are any parallels.

Meanwhile, here's a sampling of our reactions, 24 hours post-Official-Felon-Trump.

Donald Trump appeared in front of the Trump Tower elevators today in a diminished fashion — no Melania, no Presidential seal on the lectern, no Republican elected officials in blue suits and red ties clustered around him. Just a defeated 77-year-old convicted felon, spewing word salads and disjointed gag order violations. Turns out that many news outlets cut away from him. This was the right thing to do if he wasn't taking any questions, which he didn't. The media are slowly learning how to handle him — but sadly, at the expense of civil discourse, democracy, the Constitution, and Truth, Justice and the American Way.

In the wake of Trump's convictions, eight sniffy and mock-outraged Republican Senators signed a pledge not to work with Democrats on any legislation that might help President Biden — unless it's a national security or safety concern, they say (gee, thanks guys). It's the same list of ridiculous MAGAts you'd expect: Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, JD Vance, Mike Lee, Marsha Blackburn, Tommy Tuberville, Eric Schmitt and Roger Marshall. We'd like to know if the law schools that graduated these august elected officials will renounce their rejection of the rule of law: Dedman School of Law (Scott), University of Miami (Rubio), Yale (Vance), Brigham Young (Lee), and Saint Louis University (Schmitt). The others are either doctors or idiots, especially Tuberville.

President Biden's statements on yesterday's events in Manhattan were spot-on today. As was his reaction to Kelly O'Donnell's silly follow-up question about Benedict Donald as a "political prisoner." He had just spoken about a ceasefire in the Middle East, and this is what she asked him about? Good thing Dark Brandon has a sense of humor.

Speaking of Dark Brandon, with the world's attention now focused on the 2024 Presidential campaign, let's take this opportunity to remind American voters of how great a President Joe Biden has been. We've had the strongest post-pandemic economic recovery in the world, the best job market since the 1960s, and the lowest uninsured rate in American history. Inflation and food prices, crime and murder rates, and the flow to the border are all down. The Biden-Harris Administration's big three investment bills have dramatically improved the economy and accelerated the energy transition we need to combat climate change. Joe Biden has been a successful and consequential President.

P.S. Last but not least, we cats send our condolences to the Obama family on the passing of Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson. Strong Black women make this country great, and Michelle's mom's contribution in the early years of the Obama Presidency were crucial. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. We cats PURR.

A Matter Of Control

By Sniffles

So the Preacher of the House felt compelled to tsk-tsk at members over last night's shouting match in the Oversight Committee. Maybe he was just mad that Jasmine Crockett so effectively snatched MTG's wig? Who knows? We hesitate to judge cat fights, but we have to say that Crockett and AOC ended up owning the night. And we'd like to respectfully request that C-SPAN dedicate a Jamie Raskin Reaction Cam any time this committee convenes. Please, and thank you.

it's pathetic, though, that Mike Johnson decided he had to weigh in, because — and correct us if we're wrong — isn't this the job of the Committee Chairman? And isn't James Comer the weakest, limpest, most craven, most ineffectual Chair, ever ever ever? Um, yeah. Speaker Johnson, discipline your chairs, not just your bleach-blond-bad-built-butch-body caucus members.

(P.S. If committee members were drinking last night, as Congressman Raskin averred, what's to stop them from imbibing in the SCIF? Asking because we assume we're talking about Republicans here.)

But Comer's problems pale in comparison to John Roberts's tonight. The Chief Justice of the United States has two rogue dudes on his Court who have no business getting anywhere near J6-related cases — Clarence Thomas, because he's the king of corruption whose wife wanted to hang Mike Pence, and Samuel Alito, because he flew a Stop the Steal flag on his house three days before President Biden's inauguration. Two questions: What will Roberts do to whip his Court into shape? And why are we just finding out about this Alito story now? We cats HISS.

Baths

By Sniffles

So the great Benedict Donald Bloodbath Brouhaha continues into its second day — third, if you count Saturday, when he made that awful speech in Dayton, Ohio. Jeez, Trumpsters are ruining baths now. Is nothing sacred?

As Casey Stengel would say, you could look it up — so we did. First, members of the media and the Twitterverse should learn that "bloodbath" is one word. Second, its principal definition is "a great slaughter." The definition "a major economic disaster" comes in third, usually with "market" preceding it. Nevertheless, Republicans and MAGAts are desperately trying to spin Trump's bloodbath remark as a reference to the auto industry, which, we shouldn't forget, Trump neglected during his term with a lot of empty promises.

They think this is going to fly because of Trump's habit of speaking like a mob boss (never quite explicitly saying what he means, but leaving it open for his loyal gangsters to interpret and carry out). But thanks to his obvious cognitive deterioration, Trump is no longer verbally adept enough to pull this off. His mind flits around like it never did before. Which means that his lack of specificity allows people to interpret it any way they want. (As did the Morning Schmoes, for example.)

And since Trump saluted the insurrectionists at the beginning of his show — even playing some January 6th bastardization of the national anthem — how does he deserve any benefit of the doubt? We cats HISS.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Trump's Bad Day

By Zamboni

Not seeing a lot of good news for Benedict Donald today.

The economy grew by 3.1 percent last year, and — is it possible? — the media might finally be covering it accurately. It's about time they focused on facts and figures instead of feelings.

Turns out that Joe Biden won a larger share of the Democratic primary vote in New Hampshire than Trump did of the GOP's, despite not being on the ballot. Somewhat embarrassing, no?

Nikki Haley is driving him nuts, and Liz Cheney is openly encouraging her to stay in the Presidential race. Haley is disgusting, no doubt about it — but we're rooting for her to stick around. Meanwhile, Trump's former minion Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison this morning, and when he tried to speak to the press, he was drowned out by a protester with a whistle and a cowbell. Perfect!

On Capitol Hill, the cat's out of the bag on the border security deal — Republicans are caving to Donald because they don't want to give Biden a "win" going into the November election. Mitt Romney and Thom Tillis have already excoriated them for it — will more Senators join them? Whether or not they do, long story short, Trump and the GOP own the border problem now.

Finally, Trump had a weird and, in the end, humiliating experience in court today. The judge in the E. Jean Carroll defamation damages trial gave an excellent demonstration of how to control the malignant narcissist who used to live in the White House. He even corrected hapless attorney Alina Habba when she called "President Donald Trump" to the stand. But most delicious was his refusal to allow any breaching of legal guardrails, which left Trump performing for a little more than three minutes — giving rise, no pun intended, to a zillion jokes on Twitter, many of them Stormy-Daniels-related.

Trump was clearly angry when he left the courtroom. "This is not America," he drama-queened. Au contraire, Benedict Donald. This is America. Yes, it is. We cats PURR. 

Rocky Mountain Bye

By Hubie and Bertie

Big decision last night by the Colorado Supreme Court to keep Benedict Donald off the 2024 Republican primary ballot. Political punditheads and legal scholars were consumed today with What It All Meant. We cats aren't Constitutional experts — but we think the 14th Amendment is pretty clear. So do a lot of conservative dudes.

Meanwhile, Republicans are rushing to Trump's defense, even though it's been suggested that the Colorado decision, surely moving to the US Supreme Court, gives them an off-ramp from Donaldmania. In reality, though, there is no off-ramp. The party base will bolt if they don't keep compromising their principles, so implosion, here we come.

Republicans' arguments for Trump are hilarious, and devoid of all logic. Courts shouldn't be deciding questions like this, they bleat — but they were perfectly happy to accept the 5-4 SCOTUS decision in Bush v. Gore in 2000. And if "that decision should be made at the ballot box," well, why they have rejected the obvious will of 81 million Americans in 2020, when Biden received seven million more votes than Trump? Never mind the fact that none of this would be happening if Republican Senators had simply taken the opportunity to convict Donald in his second impeachment trial in 2021, and forbidden him future office.

The GOP and the MAGAts have rejected all avenues and all solutions. What the MAGAts really want is a dictatorship, and the Republican establishment is too cowed not to go along. It's just going to be up to us to crush Trump again in 2024 — whether he's the Republican nominee or running as a third-party spoiler. (And in the latter case, we need to crush whoever is the hapless compromise nominee the GOP ends up picking, too.) So check your voter registrations, folks, and start gearing up — we've got work to do. American democracy is better than all these traitorous louts. We cats PURR.

One Of Our Political Parties Is Not Serious

By Sniffles

Republicans have spent the last few days screaming about a nonexistent terror attack at the US-Canada border (it was a couple in their 50s, speeding in their very expensive Bentley), while one of their faves, George Santos, is threatening to out fellow Congressmen who, he says, drink too much and sleep with lobbyists. Republicans have also decided they really, really don't like Taylor Swift.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has been working hard on a ceasefire and exchange of hostages and prisoners between Israel and Hamas. With help from the Qatari and Egyptian governments, the US brokered an agreement that resulted in 24 hostages coming out of Gaza yesterday, with more being released right now. (It teetered a bit in uncertainty, but a call from Dark Brandon got things moving again.) Trucks of food, water and other supplies are entering Gaza.

Good job, Team Biden. As a tweep we follow said, "Biden is the reason any part of Gaza still stands. Biden is behind the humanitarian pause and the hostage/prisoner exchanges. Biden has been the one cautioning Israel to go slow, minimize civilian deaths, follow international law."

There really is only one choice next year. Vote for Biden-Harris and other Democrats. That will make us cats PURR.