Andrew Tate's "Fashion Don't." Trump's "Get The Hook" Moment.

By Baxter

You know it's a pretty okay weekend when these two things happen:

Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Miami yesterday on new charges of rape, sex trafficking, and possession of child pornography. Decent people everywhere are rooting for their extradition to the UK. Meanwhile, social media relentlessly mocked Andrew's attire.

As if that weren't delicious enough, Spain won the World Cup today, denying Donald Trump an opportunity to present the Cup to the country of one of his favorite dictators. Then, "when the US president and Gianni Infantino came on to the field for the presentation after Spain clinched victory, boos rang out around the stadium," The Guardian said. "The White House pool report said that ambient crowd noise, which had been sitting at approximately 78 decibels before their introduction, rose to 84 decibels when Trump entered the field.

"Then, after Trump presented Spain with the World Cup trophy, he attempted to stand with the team at the side of the podium as they celebrated before Infantino quietly ushered him away." We cats PURR.

Cartography

  

The photo that Benedict Donald shared earlier on social media was AI-generated, and, as you can imagine, ridiculous. We won't repost it here, but it involved a nonexistent meeting in the Oval Office and a silly map. In short, he's back on that annexation train again, which means Jon Ossoff is right: Trump is spiraling. Here's a map that's much more accurate. We cats PURR.

Maybe We Want Hercule Poirot To Win

By Miss Kubelik

We cats spent the last 10 days in Montreàl, and vis-à-vis the World Cup, it was an interesting experience. Montreàl said "non" to being a host city, and therefore escaped being fleeced by the ever-corrupt organization known as FIFA. But there was still a lot of buzz around the games, and we had to be careful about choosing restaurants since so many either had screens, or set up screens to watch.

No worries. We didn't even have a problem when Morocco fans turned out onto the sidewalks to dance and celebrate after their team beat Canada. (Even though, ugh, too bad.) The city was alive with small demonstrations like that, and with cars flying flags of Argentina, Colombia, Norway, and everything in between.

We figured we'd pay attention until we returned to the US. After all, watching the matches in Canada meant that we saw them on TSN, RDS or CTV, so we weren't putting money in Fox's pocket. Now that we're back in the US, something else is on our TV. We'll track the World Cup through other venues, thank you.

But we still heard about Benedict Donald getting FIFA to reverse the red card on US star player Folarin Balogun so he can play against Belgium tomorrow. Is there any more proof that FIFA is corrupt? Nah.

Aside from the outrage from the rest of the world, two thoughts here:

If Balogun had any integrity, he would say, thank you, but I received the red card, and I will sit this one out.

Two, does Donald realize that Balogun is a so-called anchor baby? He was born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents from Nigeria — just the kind of person that Trump, Stephen Miller, and one-third of the Supreme Court would like to outlaw and deport. It all makes us sick, and ready to root for the Belgians tomorrow. We cats HISS.

De Adder Du Jour (Plus Some Simpletons, Fools, And Lunatics)

By Sniffles

The Reflecting Pool's icky algae seems symbolic of the mess the next President will have to clean up after Trump/Vance and their storm troopers leave office. (Yes, we assume a Democrat wins next time.)

This "mop-up-after-Republican-disasters" phenomenon isn't just a case of FDR having to save the country from Herbert Hoover's Depression-era fecklessness. It happens all the time. Bill Clinton had to come in and fix the lousy economy that George H.W. Bush left behind. Later, Barack Obama inherited a financial meltdown from Bush's smirky son that made Daddy's fiasco pale in comparison. Then Joe Biden had to pull us all out of the COVID pandemic that Benedict Donald screwed up so royally.

But now, things are even worse. President Ossoff will have a real clusterf*ck on his hands when he takes over, won't he? On top of all the terrible things Trump has done, his Iran disaster will haunt our foreign policy and standing in the world for decades. And our allies won't forgive and forget easily — if ever.

Here's just one example from today's Globe & Mail (Canada) — "Trump's Iran Deal Is a National Humiliation":

"If you're looking for the silver lining [in the deal], the 'yes, but,' you can stop looking. This is Trump, after all. He is a simpleton, surrounded by fools and lunatics. They had no idea of what they were getting into with this war, no plan to prosecute it, and no clue as to what would come after. A few days' bombing, a decapitated leadership, and they'd leave everyone else to clean up the mess."

Good grief. It looks like Ossoff will need to take a page from Obama's book and pick a superstar to serve as Secretary of State — somebody who can speak with absolute authority and assuage lots of bad feelings abroad — while he attends to things at home. And we know the perfect person for the job. Brush up your résumé, former Vice President Kamala Harris, your country will need you. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)

In Love With Leo

By Zamboni

Ever since Elon Musk took it over, Twitter has become a cesspool of MAGA madness, Nazis and racism. So you can imagine how they're reacting to what Pope Leo's been up to this week. (We don't recommend scrolling through any of their threads.)

If Leo has turned out to be a thorn in Benedict Donald's side, he drove himself in deeper yesterday with his encyclical calling for AI regulation, something the Trumpsters are definitely not keen on. But since Trump is probably the most racist President since Woodrow Wilson, what really must stick in his craw is the Pope's apology for how the Catholic Church historically enabled the slave trade.

"Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to the requests of sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, including the enslavement of 'infidels,'" Leo wrote. "For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon."

We wouldn't be Catholics for a zillion dollars, but gosh, we're awfully smitten with this Pope. We love anyone who drives Trump and his minions crazy, but leave it to journalist and historian Rachel Swarns to remind us what's important in all this. "I have spent nearly a decade documenting the Catholic Church’s involvement in the American slave trade, but this news hit me first as a Black Catholic," she wrote. "I have held tight to my faith, as the church has begun grappling with this history, and today I feel so deeply moved." We cats PURR.

You Should Be Dancing, Yeah

By Sniffles

Sir David Attenborough's birthday bash in London wasn't the only fabulous party this weekend. Hungary's new Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, took the oath of office yesterday in Budapest amid daylong celebrations that inspired some, shall we say, ecstatic moves from the incoming Health Minister, Zsolt Hegedűs.

Here's a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: The Trumpsters were so openly rooting for Hungary's far-right, anti-EU autocrat, Viktor Orbán, that they sent the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, over there last month to campaign for him. Disgusting and humiliating — for Vance. Orbán lost in a landslide. Someday, Americans will be able to dance like this, too. We cats PURR.

Sir David At 100

By Miss Kubelik

On this, the eve of naturalist Sir David Attenborough's centenary — which, we're happy to say, he's with us to celebrate — we cats are in search of some gentler news.

So what better opportunity to revisit his memorable walk through the Buckingham Palace gardens with Queen Elizabeth in 2018?

You have to think that the Queen's interest in global warming was encouraged by her son Charles, but also by her keen sense of succeeding generations and what issues and challenges they will face. (The impending collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is our latest freakout, not to mention the 2026 El Niño, which promises to wreak some additional havoc this year.)

"I won't be here then," the Queen said, quite sensibly, eight years ago. But the rest of us are, at least for now. And in spite of everything, the United States is still the country the world looks to on existential issues like climate change. We have to lead on it, which means that we have to vote all these Trumpsters and Republicans out of office — this year, in 2028, and beyond. Let's get working, everyone. In the meantime, happy birthday, Sir David. You inspire us all. We cats PURR.

Charles Schools The Trumpsters

"The Founding Fathers were bold and imaginative rebels with a cause. Two hundred and fifty years ago— or, as we say in the United Kingdom 'just the other day'—they declared independence. By balancing contending forces and drawing strength in diversity, they united 13 disparate colonies to forge a nation on the revolutionary idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"They carried with them, and carried forward, the great inheritance of the British Enlightenment—as well as the ideals which had an even deeper history in English common law and Magna Carta.

"These roots run deep, and they are still vital. Our Declaration of Rights of 1689 was not only the foundation of our constitutional monarchy, but also provided the source of so many of the principles reiterated, often verbatim, in the American Bill of Rights of 1791.

"And those roots go even further back in our history: the US Supreme Court Historical Society has calculated that Magna Carta is cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789—not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.

"This is the reason why there stands a stone, by the River Thames at Runnymede where Magna Carta was signed in the year 1215. This stone records that an acre of that ancient and historic site was given to the United States of America by the people of the United Kingdom, to symbolize our shared resolve in support of liberty, and in memory of President John F. Kennedy."

—King Charles III, Address to Congress, April 29, 2026

Happy Queen Elizabeth Centenary To All Who Celebrate!

 

April 21, 1926—September 8, 2022

Magyar Deep-Sixes MAGA

By Hubie and Bertie

Another lopsided victory for Democrats in a special election last night: Analilia Mejia won Governor Mikie Sherrill's former seat in NJ-11 by 60-40. We can quibble later about whether Mejia would have been our first choice in the primary. The more important point is that she outperformed our 2024 margin in that district by five points, and bested Kamala Harris's Presidential margin there by 12 points.

People are motivated, and they keep voting in outsize numbers. This is what we need for November.

That point was proved by the election in Hungary last weekend. So many pundits and prognosticators said that Victor Orbán would never have to worry about relinquishing power because of how deeply he had gerrymandered the country, and taken over the media and the courts. But Péter Magyar's Tisza party's margin of victory was so enormous, there was no disputing it. Orbán caved. MAGA is sad.

(True to form, Benedict Donald promptly put his good buddy Orbán firmly in the rear-view mirror, because, you know, Orbán's a loser, and everything with Trump is transactional. Plus it's so convenient to just let JD Vance absorb the humiliation, right?)

Maybe the best thing about Magyar's huge win — aside from cutting off Hungary's version of CPAC from any further funding — is his speedy vow to shut down Orbán's version of Fox News/One America/Newsmax. Magyar called it "a factory of lies" and promised to create a "real, independent public broadcaster, one where the opposition finally has a voice too." As the saying goes, this is how you do it. Democrats, we hope you're taking notes, because the poll numbers for both the House and Senate this November are looking good. We cats PURR.

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

How The Veep Sweeps Matter

By Zamboni

Eighty-one years ago today, Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia — stunning a world that had no idea how sick he really was. Most stunned of all was probably his Vice President, Harry S. Truman, who had been picked as a running mate only the year before. FDR probably didn't handle the Truman selection as gracefully as he could have, but it soon became clear that he'd made the right choice.

Some Presidents select their running mates wisely. (Walter Mondale is a case in point.) Others make really stupid choices — and then humiliate them in a million ways. Which brings us to the subject of JD Vance.

Vance has just suffered not one but two major embarrassments in less than week. He was dispatched to "negotiate" with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, and he was sent to Hungary to campaign for the despicable strongman Victor Orbán. Iran rolled us in the first instance (and we're all about to pay more at the pump because of it) — and Hungary just overwhelmingly handed Orbán his walking papers. Orbán quickly conceded today's election, but surely only because the margin of victory for his opponent was so wide, he had no other choice.

There are two lessons for us here: One, the best way to defeat a fascist is to do it so resoundingly that he can't possibly claim fraud. Two, the person you pick to step in if you: 1) go under anesthesia, 2) unexpectedly suffer a cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House, or 3) keel over in the golden-gewgawed Oval Office from too many Double Whoppers, really matters. We cats salute Harry Truman, and dump our dirty litter boxes over JD Vance's head. And we PURR.

"Dignity, Always Dignity"

By Zamboni

This uplifting Easter message from Benedict Donald was not the last word from him today. He was seen later at his golf club in Virginia, not exactly looking chipper — but apparently the White House felt they had to produce him in some fashion because of all the Walter Reed rumors flying around. And now he's allegedly going to have a press conference on Monday at 1 PM.

Maybe he'll clear up why he keeps shifting his so-called "deadline" for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, but that's doubtful, isn't it? (Besides, don't we already kinda know it's all about manipulating the markets?)

It's easy to forget, what with all the (deliberate) chaos, that Trump has delayed that deadline at least five times. And who knows what he's going to say tomorrow? Is he going to give another meaningless Iran ultimatum, or will he announce who won the sweepstakes to be the next Attorney General? Or is the presser just to prove to the world that he's still alive? All we know is, reporters better ask good questions. (Sadly, they probably won't.)

This is all a handy reminder that the Republicans control both houses of Congress, and they could stop this madness any time they wanted to. We cats are disgusted, and we HISS.

De Adder Nails It, Leo Roars

By Zamboni

Not a good weekend for Benedict Donald and his fellow warmongers. Eight million people turned out across the country yesterday for No Kings 3. CPAC was a desultory disaster. Experts are predicting that oil could hit $200 a barrel if the Iran folly stretches into June. And now Pope Leo has smacked Trump upside the head. "Jesus does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them," Leo said in his Palm Sunday address. "Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood." Whoa. We cats PURR.

(IMAGE: Michael de Adder, deadder.net)

We Don't Really Care About The Olympics, But

 

It's totally swell that the US athletes got applause, and that JD Vance was booed. Well done!

Meanwhile, here is Prime Minister Mark Carney's message to Team Canada. We cats aren't really into the Olympics, but we still hope that the games show the world two things: Federal democracies produce great accomplishments and great people. We cats PURR.

Cool Hand Carney

By Zamboni

This is a super-duper speech.

We cats wish we had come up with the Heated Rivalry concept before anybody else did. But we didn't, so the laurels go to the true creators. No harm, no foul — let's all celebrate its success.

Meanwhile, we're happy to have Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney riding the wave the Crave series' popularity — something that the leader of the opposition couldn't do. Can you picture the ever-Trumpy Pierre Poilievre being comfortable with a show that celebrates gay love?

Nah, we can't, either. But the buttoned-up economist who's been to Davos 30 times? No problem. We cats PURR.

ICE OUT

By Sniffles

This photo from Minnesota is wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. If you know, you know.

It's encouraging, though, that as we cats dictate this blog post to our human typist, thousands of people in Minneapolis are braving minus-10F temperatures in a giant protest against Benedict Donald, JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, and all their evil storm troopers from ICE.

The march is on top of today's General Strike, which saw hundreds of Minneapolis businesses closing their doors on a "Day of Truth and Freedom." One coffee shop stayed open, but only so they could serve hot drinks and croissants to protesters free of charge. Nice!

Although it's sure to cause another emotional reaction from Team Trump, Minnesotans' continued peaceful resistance is just the latest episode in Donald's humiliating week. Following his Big Fail at Davos — and the paltry turnout for his "Board of Peace" (did our Western allies hate the $1 billion dues or the awful logo more?) — his bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court may be on the verge of ruling against him on 1) tariffs and 2) Lisa Cook. Wouldn't it be loverly? We cats PURR.

Also Seen In Davos This Week

Benedict Donald arrived in Switzerland for the Economic Forum, and nobody was there to greet him. Then he gave a speech that stunk up the room. And finally, the star of the meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left without so much as crossing Trump's path. All that was before Donald caved on the tariffs. Sad! We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Foreign Policy Mishegoss Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

The world's attention is on Davos, Switzerland, this week, as Benedict Donald continues to threaten Greenland and French prez Macron and others push back. But what everybody really wants to know is, what's with the lunettes de soleil? Is Macron channeling his inner Dark Brandon? (LOL — apparently it's some minor eye infection. Or he figured out a nifty way to steal the spotlight from certain hoggers of same.)

Whatever the reason, here are some of our initial impressions from Davos Day Two:

The forum's star today was definitely Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Yep, we know we're prejudiced when it comes to our Neighbor to the North, but jeez — it was so smart of Canada to put a hardheaded economist in charge just as Trump started rampaging about tariffs and takeovers. Carney's speech, which quoted Václav Havel's Power of the Powerless essay, brilliantly placed Havel's theory of "living the lie" squarely into the international conundrums of 2026:

"The system's power comes not from its truth but from everyone's willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source: When even one person stops performing...the illusion begins to crack." In short, Western powers, stop assuming Trump's behavior is normal, and act accordingly.

We cats don't know about you, but any major economic speech that quotes Václav Havel is a-okay by us.

Meanwhile, back in Berlin Washington, Donald spent two hours at the White House lectern rambling on about — well, about what, exactly? All we know is that at some point this afternoon, thought leaders we follow on social media began posting things like "Every network in America should be carrying this right now. People need to see the condition their President is in." Gosh, what's going to happen when he speaks in Davos? And will Jake Tapper write a book about it? (Nah.)

So, lots and lots going on. But a thought occurred to us: Is Donald acting like a maniac because Jack Smith is testifying to Congress in public on Thursday? We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like The VP?

By Zamboni

Back in the day (and not too long ago), right-wing American Catholics used to call for the church to deny the sacrament to Democratic politicians who supported abortion rights. President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senator John Kerry were all in their crosshairs — and, most recently, so was Senator Dick Durbin. So this is not exactly a thing of the distant past. 

In Durbin's case, his hometown bishop objected to an award that he was set to receive from the Archdiocese of Chicago. And so Durbin took the higher road and said, you know what? Skip the award, I'm good.

However, you can't help but wonder if contretemps like these might become less frequent under the papacy of Leo XIV. The former Robert Prevost, born in that Toddlin' Town and holder of both US and Peruvian citizenships, has begun to chart his course — and because his mentor, Pope Francis, stacked the College of Cardinals like Biden did US judgeships, Leo might actually be able to make some incremental progress on a more progressive direction.

We say "might," "incremental," and "more" progressive, because this is the Catholic Church we're talking about. But it seems like Leo's staking out a global position against autocracy, intolerance, and hatred of migrants. Sooner or later, he may come smack up against Benedict Donald and his ICE-y minions. At least, he's considering an invitation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to visit his old Cook County stomping grounds — so we'll keep you posted on that.

Meanwhile, we definitely expect that the "deny the sacrament to Democratic office holders" crazies will have the wind taken out of their sails. But if not, here's a thought: Why not do the same to Catholic convert JD Vance? He's defended the killing of an unarmed Minneapolis woman at the hands of ICE — an outright murder of someone whose last words were "That's okay, dude, I'm not mad at you." And it's on video.

Is there anything worse than that these days? In fact, should we blow right past denying the sacrament to Vance, and move straight to excommunication? We cats wonder, and we HISS.

Somehow These Things Are All Connected

By Sniffles

It's about Jeffrey Epstein, and it isn't.

Back in 2019, former White House national security adviser Fiona Hill testified to Congress that Vladimir Putin had proposed a deal to Benedict Donald: He would look away if we waltzed into Venezuela, so long as we would ignore Russia waltzing into Ukraine.

It looks like that swap is well underway. But the invasion of Venezuela also helps people forget that Friday was the deadline for DOJ to explain their redactions and delays on the Epstein Files. Or maybe instead of "delays," the correct term is "breaking the law" (a.k.a. the Epstein Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed by Trump).

Weird to think that in June 2018, Epstein was offering himself up to the Russians as a source on All Things Donald. "It is not complex," Epstein wrote. "He must be seen to get something." What else did he share with them? Stories of sex trafficking and child rape? Photos and videos?

Okay, it's tinfoil hat time. But these days, everything seems possible. We absolutely have to win the midterms. Until then, we cats HISS.