Presidential Prerogative

By Baxter

One of the advantages of being President is that you get to do neat stuff — like move furniture, artwork and sculptures around the White House to reflect your taste and/or political persuasion.

For example, President Obama has returned to the United Kingdom a bust of Winston Churchill that had been lent by the U.K. government to George W. Bush after September 11. Our right-wing friends over at Free Republic — and, we're sure, other places — are just beside themselves about this. (Never mind that Mr. Obama is replacing Churchill with a bust of the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln.)

But that's what President Obama gets to do. It's his Oval Office now.

Ditto the White House website. Practically at the stroke of noon on January 20, someone in Obama World pressed a button, and a fabulous new site took the place of the previous Administration's clunky old one.

But here's what we cats like best about it: To see a slideshow of Presidential pets, you have to click on Socks Clinton. Sure beats clicking on Barney!

We're sure this will last only until the Obamas get a pet of their own. But in the meantime, as you can probably guess, we cats PURR.

36 — and Sinking?

By Sniffles

George W. Bush and the very small band of people who still like him — Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice, his wife — are fond of saying that history will vindicate his Presidency.

Well, they're going to have to wait a bit for that. C-SPAN has released its 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey, and the news is not good for the Worst Person Who Ever Lived.

Bush clocks in at #36 — two slots below Herbert Hoover. Which makes us cats think, Oh, great. This means that we're struggling with an economic mess left by a guy more terrible than the President who was paralyzed by the Great Depression.

Languishing behind Bush are Millard Fillmore, Warren G. Harding, William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan. With those guys scraping the bottom of the Presidential barrel, we're certain that the Bushies are shaking their heads but hoping that, over time, their man will be able to claw his way up the list.

Hm. We cats have a hope of our own. Surely somebody in that sorry-ass group at the bottom has a redeeming quality that historians have yet to discover — and cause Bush to sink even lower.

We're rooting for Fillmore.

P.S. We cats are proud to report that this is our 500th post. Thanks for reading! We PURR at you.

UPDATE: An affectionate swipe of the paw to the faithful feline fan who's pointed out that the father of the Worst Person Who Ever Lived was ranked number 18 on this list — nearly 20 slots ahead of his worthless son. Gee, wasn't the whole point of Bush II to do better than dad?

Come On Over, Susan & Olympia — The Water's Fine

By Zamboni

We cats note with glee that the Republican Party's nutty base is very upset with Senators Collins, Snowe and Spector over the stimulus package.

They want to run them out of the GOP. In fact, the Mainers over at Free Republic are threatening a recall effort against Collins and Snowe. (We don't know what's going on over in the Freepers' Pennsylvania corner, but we suspect it's probably something similar.)

To which we cats say, have at it, folks. In fact, if Senators Collins and Snowe ever get tired of this silly behavior, we'd more than welcome them on the Democratic side of the aisle. That way, once Al Franken gets seated (and it's looking better for him all the time), that would bring our total number of Democratic Senators up to 61 — more than enough to frustrate Mitch McConnell's "just say no" mentality.

It also would mean that we wouldn't have to fly grieving Senators back from their mothers' Ohio funerals to make sure the economy gets saved. Works for us!

Memo to NPR: Give Up on Juan Williams

By Baxter

We cats have often wondered why National Public Radio continues to bother employing Juan Williams. But now that Williams has referred to Michelle Obama as "Stokely Carmichael in a dress," we're more than wondering — we're astounded.

Granted, Williams did not make the remark on the air at NPR. But the fact that he made it on "The O'Reilly Factor" says it all.

Where does this come from? Obviously the man's been so steeped in Republican talking points that he no longer qualifies as a mainstream journalist. He needs to be relegated to Fox "News" and solely to Fox "News."

We cats just wrote to NPR, to HISS at Williams' behavior and to demand he give Mrs. Obama a public apology. If you'd like to do the same, visit www.npr.org, or send a letter to National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

Judd, on the Defensive

By Sniffles

We cats have yet to hear anyone mention the reason that we strongly suspect Judd Gregg suddenly decided he couldn't be Commerce Secretary. (And is it just us, or is he coming off like a total lamebrain in this whole thing?)

Yes, the pundits mention the 2010 census and how the conservative Republican Senator may have had his nose out of joint about the White House playing a big role in it. But they fail to carry that thought to its next logical step; that is, that the census determines the number of Congressional seats apportioned to each state.

There also seems to be a little cat fight between the political parties about how thoroughly the census should count minorities. You guessed it — Republicans aren't terribly eager to tally up the folks who don't support them. So that — and the prospect of some added Democratic districts for 2012 — makes it pretty clear to us.

In short, we smell a rat — but then, we cats usually do.

Surely Mitch "Amphibian Face" McConnell and John "Eyeliner Man" Boehner and Eric "AFSCME Ad" Cantor told Senator Gregg something like this: "No way, no how, can you preside — even in a titular fashion — over the GOP's continued political evisceration."

P.S. In case you think President Obama is knocked off his stride by any of this, check out his reference in last night's (absolutely terrific) speech at Springfield's annual Lincoln Day Dinner.

200th Birthday of First Republican President a Sad Comment on GOP of Today

By Zamboni

Are we the only ones who thought that President Obama's remarks in the Rotunda today — observing Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday — were a bit of a GOP smackdown?

“[E]ven as we meet here today, at a moment when we are far less divided than in Lincoln’s day, but when we are once again debating the critical issues of our time," the President said, "let us remember that we are doing so as servants to the same flag, as representatives of the same people, and as stakeholders in a common future.”

You be the judge. But in the wake of this speech and his Inaugural Address, we cats think he's really, really good at this. And we PURR and rub up against his ankles for it, because it's been a very long eight years.

Meanwhile, we find that we have to say something about some other Republicans who have been misbehaving.

We were going to ignore the kerfuffle over Congressman Eric Cantor's foolish AFSCME video joke. (Aha, you say, it was Cantor's spokesperson, not the Congressman himself, who erred — but in our minds they're one and the same. And believe us, if the shoe were on the other foot, the Republicans would be saying the same thing.)

But now, we feel we need to rub Mr. Cantor's smug little face in our dirty litter box. Because he doesn't know the rules of English grammar.

"Despite our repeated attempts to work with President Obama and the Democrat majority..." he started to whine the other day.

Democratic, Congressman. "Democrat" is a noun, not an adjective. And we continue to object to GOP attempts to turn it into a pejorative. Would you characterize yourself as a "Jew American"? We think not.

And then there's our good friend Carol Carter, former Hillsborough County, Florida, Republican committeewoman (that is, if indeed she IS a woman), who resigned over a notoriously racist and therefore inherently unfunny joke she sent in an e-mail. She wants her job back. We can only guess that she thinks her grudging half-apology was atonement enough.

What a party. We cats HISS.

UPDATE: Judd Gregg just announced that being a Republican is more important to him than helping the country out of this Bush-incited disaster. As we said, what a party.

Just Because It Drives Them Crazy

By Baxter

We owe a big debt to our right-wing Internet friends who have been fulminating about this video clip from President Obama's town hall meeting in Fort Myers.

Of course, the wingnuts all think that this poor woman, Henrietta Hughes — who is clearly at the end of her rope from having to live in her car — "hasn't held a job in years." One commenter noted that Rush Limbaugh stated today that this event made him "embarrassed to be an American."

Hm. We cats will refrain from remarking on the hypocrisy of that statement. Because we're SO grateful that our angry conservative pals have pointed out something we hadn't noticed before.

It's the woman in white, leaping to her feet at Ms. Hughes' right and slightly behind her, who calls out "I love you, Barack."

Thanks, you lovable right-wing nutbags, you! The fact that it makes you gag makes us grin. Like Cheshire cats.

UPDATE: Our friends at Free Republic were very upset to learn that Ms. Hughes had been given (or lent, it's not yet clear) a house, so that she and her son could quit living in a pickup truck and taking showers at public parks. "Where's my free stuff?" one fumed late yesterday. Well, Freeps, you'd better eat your words. The donor of the house is the wife of Florida's Republican State Representative Nick Thompson.

A Real "Poke-in-the-Eye-with-a Sharp-Stick" Kind of Day

By Sniffles

Remember this idiot?

He's the sheriff of Lee County, Florida, who appeared in uniform at a Sarah Palin rally in October and, introducing the Governor to the crowd, pointedly referred to "Barack HUSSEIN Obama." You know, like it was an epithet.

Well, guess what. "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" is now the President of the United States, Mr. Stupid Sheriff Person, and he was in your back yard today. At a most successful town hall meeting with people whose lives have been ruined by your political party.

We cats hope Mr. Stupid Sheriff Person feels really bad today. About as bad, in fact, as the posters over at Free Republic who are really, really mad at Florida's Republican Governor, Charlie Crist — who appeared with, and introduced, the President at the Fort Myers event this afternoon. It must be insult on top of injury that the Great White-Haired Hope, who half-heartedly campaigned with John McCain last fall, proudly stood with President Obama and touted the stimulus. Just read for yourself:

"Behold, it is Crist... the RINO."

"Can you pretend you’re surprised?"

"All of these RINO’s [sic] giving Obama bipartisan cover should be immediatley [sic] relieved of their GOP membership."

"Crist is a freaking idiot."

We cats PURR, because we love stuff like this. What do you want to bet that, once upon a time, the Freepers thought Crist... um... walked on water?

Wow!

By Zamboni

Imagine — a President who answers questions intelligently! Who listens to what he's being asked, thinks carefully, and gives well-constructed, seven-minute answers on complex issues. A President who uses real words.

We cats PURR.

$37,262 and $425,000

By Baxter

The Republicans have a lot of nerve, lecturing the Obama Administration about spending.

While their myopic minorities on Capitol Hill are screaming that the stimulus bill is nothing but spending (well — duh), two of their party "bright lights" are defending a little spending of their own.

Newly elected RNC Chair Michael Steele says it was perfectly okay that his failed 2006 Senate campaign paid more than $37,000 to a now-defunct company owned by his sister for work that was never performed. What is it with the Steele family, that they crash and burn at everything they do?

And Florida Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp has billed his state's taxpayers nearly half a million dollars for — wait for it — 365 flights that he and his family took on state planes. (Just to put this all in context, former Governor Buddy MacKay took a state plane 19 times when he was in office.) Caught red-handed, Kottkamp is reimbursing the state $12,974. We don't understand exactly how that math works out, but never mind.

You see, Kottkamp works in Tallahassee, but he and his wife travel back and forth between there and the million-dollar home they own in Fort Myers. We cats are sure that the thousands of desperate Fort Myers residents whose homes are being foreclosed on — and who now are waiting in line at churches for free food — would find some good use for $12,974. Or for that matter, $37,262. But, like all right-wing Christians we've encountered, the Kottkamps appear oblivious to human suffering.

Which brings us back to those Republican "insurgents" on Capitol Hill. We cats HISS.