Lest We Furr-get: Pearl Harbor Day Plus One

 

By Zamboni

Neat! Here is a colorized version of Franklin Roosevelt's speech to Congress on December 8, 1941. Some notes as you watch:

Believe it or not, December 8 (Japan) and December 11 (Nazi Germany) were the last times the US Congress formally declared war. Since then, Presidents have gotten us "involved" in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and a zillion other places. It would be nice if the legislative branch got its mojo back someday, wouldn't it?

The correct FDR quote is "a date which will live in infamy." (Not "day." Lots of people — and, by the way, Google AI — get this wrong.)

Thanks to his polio, Roosevelt was wheelchair-bound, but he seems to be standing at the lectern. It's kind of interesting to note, because now we all know how he pulled that stuff off.

Finally, just look at all the men here. Not a woman to be seen. We've still got a long way to go — only 30 percent of today's Congress are female. But it sure beats nine women in the House and one in the Senate 84 years ago. 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.

Doonesbury Redux

 

Lots of folks are popping corks tonight, but we think we'll celebrate today's verdict the Joe Biden way, and go out for ice cream. More thoughts on convicted felon Trump later. Meanwhile, we cats PURR.

Elsie's Bad Night, Squared

By Miss Kubelik

Is anything stupider than Benedict Donald's "thumb's up" gesture? Yes, actually — Elise Stefanik.

"Elsie" heartily endorsed criminal grifter George Santos for NY-03 in 2022, and then after he crashed, burned and was expelled from Congress, heartily endorsed token woman of color Mazi Pilip (above), who got her clock cleaned by Democrat Tom Suozzi last night. This Elsie humiliation is so fun that we cats are willing to put up with the press's "badly needed shot of optimism for Democrats" framing in exchange.

The truth, which political pundits and other idiots refuse to recognize, is that Democrats have been wildly successful ever since June 24, 2022, a date that will live in infamy — when the Supreme Court stripped millions and millions of women of their right to bodily autonomy. Turns out that people don't like the idea of Republicans making pregnant women bleed out in hospital parking lots.

But that's not all, folks:

"Snowmageddon" didn't materialize. Yesterday's Nor'easter was gone by noonish, and the roads got cleared. A Republican group even paid for plows! And Central Park looked lovely.

Asian-American voters are close to 20 percent in NY-03, concentrated in Queens. Representative Grace Meng busted her ass in the AAPI community for Suozzi. Go, Gracie!

The polls were wrong again. They had Suozzi narrowly ahead, and he won by eight — a 16-point swing from 2022. The media, of course, will never stop hyping them, no matter how flawed they are.

Mike Johnson just can't seem to lead Congressional Republicans to victory. How embarrassing that they get whooped in NY-03 mere hours after they impeached a Cabinet Secretary by one vote. Will Benedict Donald call for Mikey to be overthrown over this?

As Mitch McConnell has been known to grumble, poor candidate quality in winnable seats hurts Republicans. Mazi Pilip was inaccessible, incoherent, bad in the debate, and a no-show to a lot of events, relying on surrogates (who apparently didn't do a very good job).

Finally, yes, this result is about Suozzi leaning into GOP hypocrisy on immigration. But maybe it's also about the fact that the economy, thanks to Joe Biden, is doing really well. We cats PURR.

"He Is Nothing"

 

By Sniffles

As deliberations in the E. Jean Carroll trial were underway on Friday, tweeps were amusing one another by speculating was it must be like in the jury room. One wag said something to the effect of "You realize that right now, nine people are sitting around a table saying to each other, 'No, make it higher.'" Nailed it!

Carroll's appearance with her lawyers on MSNBC tonight was the first time in ages that we've actually bothered to watch the Rachel Maddow show. We're disappointed that Maddow only had them on for what amounted to a half-hour (thanks to one of her typically long-winded monologues). There were so many more questions we wanted to ask. But Carroll's story about how, face to face in the same courtroom, Benedict Donald was smaller than small made it worth tuning in.

It satisfying to hear Carroll say that, because she sounded so relieved. As the saying goes, a great weight has clearly been lifted off her. But it also underscored the fact that nine ordinary Americans, sitting around that jury-room table, decided he was a nothing, too. A former President of the United States is being made to pay because a gutsy woman stood up for herself, and because seven men and two women said so. Ain't America great? We cats PURR.

Presence Of Malice

By Miss Kubelik

Think for a moment what it would be like to be the constant target of threats, insults, and other forms of harassment, inspired by somebody who was once President of the United States. You'd probably go insane within the space of a week. We certainly would.

E. Jean Carroll not only endured the trauma of Benedict Donald's original assault, since she bravely went public in 2019, her life has been a living hell. And it will continue to be, whether or not Trump pays her the $83.3 million the jury decreed this afternoon. The MAGA stalkers will never leave her alone. Heck, even the jurors were told to never, ever reveal that they had served on this case and rendered this verdict.

We would never change places with E. Jean, bless her, but today we admire no one more. We cats PURR.

Precious Cargo

By Miss Kubelik

On this January 6 anniversary, take a moment to think about how it could have been worse.

Members of Congress could have been kidnapped or killed. (Has Mitt Romney written a thank-you note to Officer Eugene Goodman yet for saving his life?) Many more police officers could have died. The insurrectionists could have taken Congressional staffers hostage. They might have damaged or destroyed paintings and other great works of art that call the Capitol home.

And, except for some quick thinking by a Senate aide and Congressional staffers — all women — the certified electoral college ballots might have fallen into the hands of the Trumpsters. Thanks to these intrepid women, the boxes of ballots were secured and ready to be returned to the Senate chamber once order was restored.

They weren't the only copies, but if the rioters had gotten hold of them, certification could have been dangerously delayed. These women are the real patriots from January 6, and we thank them. We cats PURR.

Victorious

By Sniffles

The Carroll case was a civil trial, so we won't be able to see Benedict Donald's orange face atop an orange jumpsuit. At least, not yet. But today's swift verdict in favor of E. Jean today was mighty satisfying, wasn't it? And in less than three hours, too!

We're happy to stand corrected about the nervousness we felt yesterday. Even with a MAGAt or two on the jury, it appears justice can be done. (Does Donald Trump even have $5 million? Maybe not, but it doesn't matter — E. Jean made it clear she wasn't doing this for the money. She wanted to clear her name.)

Meanwhile, looks like CNN is still going forward with its execrable "town hall" with Trump tomorrow night. Plenty of tweeps have been screaming about this and raining down demands on @CNN to cancel the event. We won't be watching it, but at this point we think, heck, let them go ahead. Wouldn't it be great if Benedict Donald says something defamatory about E. Jean Carroll again, on live TV? Then she could turn around and sue him again! That would make us cats PURR.

To Sir, Without Much Love

By Sniffles

The coronation of Charles Philip Arthur George (or "Philip Charles Arthur George," as Diana flubbed it at the altar in 1981) is Saturday, and the media are bending over backward to find new ways of saying how unexcited everyone is.

Which means we're just two days away from the massive journalistic pivot, in which the narrative will become, "Oh, we thought no one was going to care, and it was going to be dull and irrelevant, but the pomp and pageantry (and the diverse attendees) have won us over."

Poor Charles. He's really trying, and you know that he and the Queen thought Brexit was daft, although they couldn't say so. But aside from all that, and the rest of the garbage that trails the Royal Family around in the popular press, the ceremony will no doubt be something to see. There hasn't been one in 70 years, for heaven's sake, and it'll be interesting to note all the deviations from 1953 — Hindus and Muslims, Indigenous dignitaries, etc. (Including the first Indigenous Governor-General of Canada. For us cats, we're just here for the Mounties.)

Another reason to watch — whether live or recorded — is that you have to go back to 1937 to find a coronation that included a Queen Consort. Check out this clip from The King's Speech to see how the filmmakers imagined George VI rehearsed. Kinda fun to picture Helena Bonham-Carter getting crowned beside him.

Which brings us to our final point: The late Queen's father is the primary reason we're tempted to harbor any feelings of respect for the House of Windsor. George VI wasn't raised to be King, but let's just say that ascending the throne in the place of his awful brother was a blessing for the family and the world. (They did Nazi that Abdication thing coming.)

The role of the UK's constitutional monarchy is always a topic worth debating. But in the meantime, let's all remember that, as The New Yorker has pointed out, when Charles was a young man in the 1970s, Britain was just one helicopter crash or off-piste ski accident from King Andrew I. Whew! We cats PURR.

Eradication Is For Worms, Not For People

By Sniffles

It's been two weeks since the world learned that former President Jimmy Carter had entered hospice. Since many patients stay in a hospice program for a week or less, we were all bracing for news at any moment. But now there are reports that he may be more like other patients, whose average length of stay is 78 days. 

Obviously, nobody knows. There's only one person we've known to graduate from hospice, and that was Art Buchwald. We'll see what category Carter falls in.

Meanwhile, tributes and reminiscences have poured in from around the globe, giving Carter a lavish and loving send-off before he even goes. We hope he's been able to read or hear about a bunch of them. They must be very satisfying, particularly since — as we well remember — folks couldn't wait for him to get out of Washington in 1981.

Many of the tributes have referenced the President's support of Habitat for Humanity. Not to diss Habitat, but the last 40 years of the Carters' lives have been about so much more than that. Such as: Have you ever heard of Guinea worm? If not, count your blessings, because it's a simply hideous disease that tortured millions of Africans — until the Carters tackled it. You get it by ingesting Guinea worm larvae in unfiltered water. Later, the worms grow inside you to enormous length and push their way out of your body. Real nightmare stuff, right out of "Alien."

When The Carter Center first started its Guinea worm initiative in 1986, nearly four million Africans suffered from the disease. Last year, there were a total of 13 cases. So far in 2023, there have been none.

Jimmy Carter always said he wanted to outlive the last Guinea worm. If the statistics continue to hold up, he may have already done so. Now that's an eradication we can get behind. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Jimmy Carter comforts a young Guinea worm patient in Ghana.)

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.

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.

Checkmate

By Zamboni

Merrick Garland, who apparently had everyone thinking was Wally Cox but who today turned out to be Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson instead, has just outmaneuvered Benedict Donald on the chessboard.

Garland has put Trump in the position of having to reject making the Mar-a-Lago search warrant public. Which Trump has not done since Monday, even though he has a copy. And which means all those Republicans who have been screaming for DOJ "transparency" will suddenly have to say, "You know what? Never mind."

Yes, Garland is driven only by the rule of law and the need to follow it regardless of political factors. But today he clearly got the political upper hand. Trump has until 3 pm tomorrow to declare whether he will oppose the disclosure of the warrant. Sweet!

Meanwhile, we're trying really hard not to think about what The Washington Post is reporting right now — that the documents Trump took were related to our nation's nuclear capability. Hmmm. As people more sage than we have pointed out, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg got the chair — and it was Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn, who helped send them there. We cats are pretty scared, and we HISS.

Brought To Their Knees

By Miss Kubelik

On this awful anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, it's chilling to think about what might have happened if the cops hadn't gotten a tip about white nationalists targeting a Pride parade in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Thirty-one idiots from the so-called "Patriot Front" were seen piling into a U-Haul and heading over to the parade when they got pulled over. They had concealed their faces, of course (although we thought right wingers didn't believe in masks). The local sheriff, who'd been dealing with questions about overcrowding at Kootenai County Jail, assured the public that "we will find room for these 31." HA!

So, thank goodness for observant tipsters. But since the plot was foiled, we have to say: To us, the big news out of this story is that there even was a Pride parade in Coeur d'Alene! So, progress. We cats PURR.

3,499,986 Down, 14 To Go

By Miss Kubelik

The CDC has approved a second COVID booster shot for Americans who have, ahem, been around for a half-century or more. We cats have a question: Do we have to get nine second boosters? One for each life? Not sure who in the Biden Administration can tell us, but maybe we'll send a DM to Willow. (By the way, she is one pretty cat.)

Meanwhile, big news on the health front. If you're an admirer of former President Jimmy Carter as we are, you probably know that one of the main goals of The Carter Center is to eradicate the dreaded guinea worm. Take it from us, you don't want the gory details of this disease. Suffice to say that it's awful, and when Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter took it on back in 1986, there were 3.5 million people a year, in 21 countries in Africa and Asia, who were suffering from it. Ugh.

Now, however, it's just been announced: Incidence of guinea worm has dropped more than 99.99 percent, to 14 cases in 2021. Fourteen!

President Carter has often said he wants to see the last guinea worm die before he does. Thanks to the efforts of the center that bears his name, at 97, he's giving the worm a run for its money. We hope Carter hangs on to age 100 and beyond — but we're betting he'll get his guinea worm wish soon. We cats PURR.

Return To Normalcy

You know the occupation of Ottawa is over when you can throw on your Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and take your bird out for a walk. Hurray for the Emergencies Act! We cats PURR.

Bien Fait, Canada

By Sniffles

Canadian broadcasters are projecting a Liberal win tonight, but it's unclear whether it will be a majority or minority. Considering how much the talking heads have dumped on Justin Trudeau this election, we cats consider it a victory to even have whispers of a majority happening now.

It wouldn't be unheard of, however, if some of the western provinces surprise. The COVID pandemic is so terrible in Alberta and Saskatchewan right now that we wouldn't be shocked if the Liberals rack up some interesting numbers there.

Also, the other issue that's resonating tonight is climate change. Young voters are having their say.

So, more tomorrow. In the meantime, PMJT will still be PMJT come tomorrow. We cats PURR.

UPDATE, September 21: Talking heads are calling it the status quo election, and big-picture-wise, it was. But look at some of the individual ridings. The Conservative Party lost two seats in Alberta, with a third race too close to call. "There's such a symbolic value when a riding shifts in Alberta," a pollster said. We cats PURR.

Gander The Good, Part Deux

By Miss Kubelik

Ten years ago on the anniversary of 9/11, we cats blogged about the wonderful people of Gander, Newfoundland, who welcomed the "plane people" into their homes and hearts. It was the most uplifting way we could think of to observe a somber anniversary.

Guess we should have been in the Broadway-musical-making business, because since then, "Come From Away" has been a smash hit — and is being performed in concert on the Mall in Washington, DC, tonight. Wish we could be there!

You know how whenever anything happens, craven politicians say things like "We are all [fill in the blank] now"? This musical makes us wish we could claim the honor of being an Islander. We cats PURR.

Presler Implodes, Takes Elsie With Him

By Sniffles

This is so disappointing! The Scott Presler hatefest that was scheduled for Wednesday night near Saratoga Springs, New York — and which our Trumpy Congresswoman, "Elsie" Stefanik, was cheering on — has been canceled.

The Saratoga County GOP chair blamed COVID, but that seems pretty fishy. Elsie and local Republicans were all excited about the event — until they weren't. (Elsie was never going to have the guts to attend, and she's deleted her Presler-related tweets.) What happened? We have a few thoughts.

Presler is a conspiracy theorist and oh, by the way, an insurrectionist ("January 6, 2021 is going to be a defining moment in American history," he tweeted on January 3). But he's primarily known for his intolerance toward Muslims. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, his Act for America organization is the biggest anti-Muslim hate group in the US. So it wasn't surprising that after Stefanik tweeted "massive news" announcing Presler's rally, she got a ton of blowback, and a counter-protest was promised downtown. Still, we'd bet the cancellation was forced by economic, not political, reasons.

We're in the peak of the racing season — the first one since COVID hit, and Saratoga is making up for lost time and dollars. The last thing our Chamber of Commerce wants is a bunch of Proud-Boy types marauding down Broadway and tussling with Black Lives Matter activists, Skidmore students and other local libs. And a side note: Racing and breeding is a big deal in the Middle East — you've heard of Arabian horses, right? There are probably a few Muslim owners of racers in Saratoga right now who weren't too happy to hear that Presler was coming to town.

So, Presler is canceled, and we won't be able to berate any door knockers who might swing by after the event. Pity! But we have one suggestion: If "Elsie" is so clueless about the sensibilities of our community, perhaps she doesn't deserve to represent Saratoga Springs in Congress anymore. New York State Independent Redistricting Commission, are you listening? We cats HISS.

UPDATE: Presler is supposed to appear at our local Elks Club on August 31 instead. A bit of a comedown from a big rally in the park — and how long will it take for that one to get canceled, too? We cats PURR.

Alive!

Cats, take a bow: After more than two weeks since the Surfside condo collapse, a resident feline was found wandering the site. "Binx" lived on the ninth floor. Incredible! We cats salute him, and we PURR.

UPDATE: Binx has been reunited with his surviving human family members. Until now, the Surfside story had no silver linings. Thanks, Binx, for finally giving us one.