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.

Rebel Gets Rocked

By Zamboni

Okay, we admit it — we'd never heard of "Rebel News." And there are good reasons. First, it's a far-right, Muslim-hating Canadian website. (Think Breitbart, only north of the 49th parallel.) For the other reasons, and details on the rest of Rebel's unsavory background, click here.

It appears that like ONN and Newsmax in the US, Rebel constantly strives for recognition as a serious news organization, which (also like ONN and Newsmax) it's not. Rebel has a habit of appealing to the courts when they can't convince people they should be accredited as real journalists. The most recent legal dust-up happened yesterday: Thanks to a late-breaking decision by a federal judge, Rebel was allowed to cover last night's federal election French-language debate.

At the post-debate press avail, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau was asked by a Rebel "reporter" if he would continue to support excluding them. Here is his gone-viral answer. (P.S. Justin wasn't alone. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh simply said, "I don't take questions from Rebel News.")

Bravo! Isn't it great when these alt-right assholes get their heads handed to them like this? Or when — as he did in his COVID speech today — Joe Biden makes it clear that he's done with anti-vaxx idiots in the US? More of this, please. We cats love it, and we PURR.

Still Drivin' Dixie Down

By Baxter

Donald Trump, who was born in Queens, is very upset that this statue of Robert E. Lee came down in Richmond, Virginia, today. In reply, we invite him to visit all the monuments and memorials to New Yorkers who died for the Union during the Civil War.

The flip side of Trump, the Big Apple native who sides with white supremacists, is probably Ralph Northam — current Governor of Virginia, alleged blackface wearer, descendant of the Old Confederacy. Northam, who survived his mini-scandal of racial insensitivity, is the perfect person to fight to remove Lee (and the other rebel statues) from Monument Avenue. He's a Democrat  — just like all those secessionists were back in the day — he's white, and he speaks with a soft, soothing Southern accent. Northam was there today to watch Lee go.

It was another "only Nixon could go to China" moment. And Richmond, which once was the capital of the Confederacy, has better places to go and to be. We cats think it's great, and we PURR.

Canadians Are (No Longer) Alberta Bound

By Sniffles

For years now, we cats have wondered why HR recruiters at major US corporations haven't been speaking up more about the horrible laws that Republicans are passing in red states. How is it possible that businesses are convincing great talent from across the country to live and work in places where it's hard for them to vote? Where they can't enjoy reproductive freedom? Where they can't be sure their kids will be safe in school, from either COVID or guns?

Sooner or later, this has got to catch up with them. If you were a talented millennial or Gen Zer, a single person or a young woman of color, why would you want to take a job in the theofascistocracies of Tennessee, Texas or Florida, just to name a few? No, thanks.

Until then, it's discouraging that more corporations haven't spoken out about, for example, Texas's vile new abortion law. But we cats are sure that at some point in one of our nine lifetimes, this recruitment problem will become a thing. How do we know? Just look north.

The Canadian province of Alberta, like Texas, is conservative oil-and-gas land. Alberta has boomed in the past, but things have been pretty rough there lately: a faltering energy sector, high unemployment, Canada's second-highest per capita rate of COVID-19 infections, and provincial leaders who tend to go on glamorous vacations abroad when constituents at home are hurting. Premier Jason Kenney, in fact, just spent more than three weeks in France, incommunicado during his province's latest coronavirus emergency. It's a pattern.

The result? A lot of people don't want to live there any more. Statistics Canada reports that 3,384 Albertans fled to other parts of the country in the first quarter of 2021 alone — the fourth quarter in a row in which more folks left Alberta than arrived.

There are lots of reasons that people move. But a poorly governed province with rampaging sickness, a low quality of life and cynical leadership surely ranks near the bottom of anyone's destination list. Texas, Florida, et. al., please take note. We cats HISS.

The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of.

By Hubie and Bertie

We cats spent about five hours driving around rural upstate New York and southern Vermont today. Both are deep-blue states — but we saw plenty of tumbledown houses with Trump flags, Gadsden flags, "blue lives" flags, ad nauseum. But mostly Trump flags and yard signs.

Then we went to a diner, and the guy at the next table was right out of Central Casting: tall, thin, white as the driven snow, and wearing a Trump camo hat and a sweatshirt that said, "One Nation, Under God."

We know these people are a minority of the country. That they're all losers from Loserville. And while we've been known to leave a bumper sticker on well past Election Day, the Trumpsters' over-the-top displays are something else. Yes, it's 10 months after their guy got his ass handed to him, and they look like sad idiots. But they're also disturbing.

That's because Trump fealty is completely opposite every understanding we've ever had of our country. Americans pledge no loyalty to a person, but to the republic. It's the system of self-government that we hold dear. The US has had charismatic Presidents before (JFK, Obama) — but this Trumpy Dear Leader phenomenon is new. And it's not just destructive to democracy: It's keeping those who believe in it from taking life-saving measures like getting vaccinated and wearing masks.

We can only hope that enough Trumpsters commit suicide by COVID before 2024 that they balance out the damage that Republicans are doing across the country by restricting the vote. In the meantime, though, the Benedict Donald fandom we saw displayed today will be enough to give us a few bad dreams tonight. We cats HISS.

(IMAGE: Not what we saw today, but close.)

Baby Love

We cats are more into kittens than babies, but we still think it's pretty swell that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and husband Chasten have adopted these two. One girl, one boy. Mazel tov!

We also celebrate it because we know it drives the right wing crazy. Pete and Chasten would grin at that, too. We cats PURR.

Donald Trump Jr. Endorses DC Statehood

By Miss Kubelik

We cats were just thinking that for stories about the corporations that have nothing to say about Texas's wildly restrictive new abortion law, journalism is going about it all wrong. Instead of writing headlines along the lines of "Corporations remain silent," they should say this: "American Airlines/Southwest Airlines/Dell/Whole Foods/Fill-In-The-Blank Opposes Women's Reproductive Rights."

Hence our own headline tonight. Because Spawn o' Trump just tweeted this image of the American flag. Thing is, it's the 51-star flag — the proposed design for when the District of Columbia becomes a state. HAW!

(He's since deleted it. Kinda embarrassing.)

Just one quick question: If Benedict Donald is going to announce any day that he's running in 2024, why is he trying to offload his DC hotel? Still and all, we cats couldn't think of any better development for Democratic victories in 2022 than to have Trump announce he's running in '24 right now. Have at it, Donald! We cats PURR.

Class Act.

By Baxter

This is not an entertainment blog, but at the end of a brutal political week, let's focus on a topic lighter than the survival of democracy, climate change, and reproductive rights — all of which are worrying at the moment, to say the least.

Specifically, let's talk about the Oscars 2021.

We cats never watch the Oscars any more. We used to be glued to it, but it's become so silly that we now subscribe to the adage "Why should I waste three-and-a-half-hours of my life when I can read the results in three minutes the next morning?" We also don't go to the movies much these days, even before the pandemic (unless we're in Montreal, where the audiences are better-behaved).

But this year, we took notice of the fact that Chadwick Boseman was nominated posthumously as Best Actor for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." We were rooting for him, not just because we liked him in "42," but because he seemed like a talented guy who deserved the kind of recognition Peter Finch got for "Network" or Heath Ledger got for "The Dark Knight." If Oscars for dead guys can go to white folks, why not for Black folks too?

It felt like everyone else was rooting for Boseman as well. So it was a big surprise — and kind of a letdown — when Anthony Hopkins won for "The Father." Goodness gracious, the guy is Oscared up the wazoo. Why did he need another one? Hopkins was so convinced he wouldn't win that he didn't even attend the awards ceremony. *Grumble, grumble*

So, okay: "The Father" is now making the rounds on cable TV, and our eyes are opened. Maybe it's just because we can relate to an elderly patriarch who is losing his marbles, but his performance is incredible. Hopkins deserved his Oscar, all 13-1/2 inches of it and beyond. And here is his elegant statement of acceptance. We cats are happy to salute anyone these days with good taste, and therefore, we PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Heartening News In The Darkness Edition

By Sniffles

It's too bad it's only Thursday, and there's another day left in this terrible week. To keep our spirits up, we cats went looking for some cheer-inducing news. Guess what — we found some! Here you go:

A very smart young man came up with a diabolically wonderful way to spam Texas's vile new "turn-in-your-neighbor-who-wants-an-abortion" website, and he shared instructions on Tik-Tok while eating French fries. People flooded the site with fake data and, um, "Shrek porn." Those crazy kids!

(Another note on SCOTUS and the Texas law: Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, Barrett and Biff have just put reproductive rights squarely on the ballot in 2022. This is not something Republicans wanted. Remember that phrase about awakening a sleeping giant.)

The Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia, is coming down.

The furry and horned "QAnon Shaman" will plead guilty to a passel of felonies (including obstruction and civil disorder) in DC court tomorrow. We're seeing reports that he will also denounce his former Q-y beliefs (and maybe even Benedict Donald). Stay tuned.

And here's the best ever: Right-wing nutcase Candace Owens made an appointment at an Aspen, Colorado, health center for a COVID-19 test. The appointment was promptly canceled. "I've just learned of this testing request, and as the owner of this business am going to refuse this booking and deny service," the clinic owner wrote in a terse email. "We cannot support anyone who has proactively worked to make this pandemic worse by spreading misinformation, politicizing and DISCOURAGING the wearing of masks, and actively dissuading people from receiving lifesaving vaccinations."

Maybe we cats should go to this clinic for our next test — even with a trip to Colorado, they're sure to be faster than our local CVS! In the meantime, these stories make us PURR.

Hillary Clinton Was Right About Everything.

 

Back in 2015, the email lady tweeted that the next Republican President could nominate as many as four Supreme Court justices. With a big assist from Mitch McConnell, Benedict Donald got three.

Today, with Roe on the brink, we cats are relieved we are fixed. But we HISS anyway.

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