A Thought For Tonight

We cats have seen a lot of references to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor these last couple of days, but the one that really resonated with us was the Tet Offensive of 1968. That was a military action that didn't immediately dawn on America as consequential — but oh, how consequential it was. So let's reach back to the 1960s for a sentiment that we always hope will prevail. Plus, Dionne Warwick makes us PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Republican Insanity Edition

By Hubie and Bertie

Let's face it, when it comes to the GOP, every edition of Tidbits And Cat Treats could be labeled "insanity."

One of our two political parties has driven completely off the cliff. It's populated by nutcases at worst, and by people who hate government at best. (Or by people who are completely corrupt and cynical, like Mitch McConnell.) But wow, throw in another global crisis and they really show their stripes. Here are just a few sorry examples.

They tried to claim that the Iranian $6 billion deposited in Qatar for humanitarian aid — and which secured the release of American hostages — has funded the attack on Israel. (As many have pointed out, NOT.)

They tried to criticize President Biden for hosting a BBQ at the White House for residence staff last night. (Again, NOT. The event was pre-planned, took an hour or two from the President's time, and was held within literal feet of the Oval Office. Try again, idiots.)

They complained that the White House put a lid on coverage today just before noon. (Again and again, NOT. A "lid" means that there are no more public events — such as briefings — on the schedule, so the press can go get lunch or whatever. It doesn't mean Team Biden isn't working, and everybody knows this. They're just getting desperate now.)

Face it, MAGAts and, yes, you maddeningly lazy journalists: The nation is lucky to have a President right now that it does. Joe Biden has hundreds of years of foreign policy experience, and if you would stop bitching for one minute about his age, you'd see that. Do you know how many times millions of Americans have thanked God that he's in the White House now instead of Benedict Donald? You can't count that high. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Not A Lot Of Peace In The World Tonight

 

"In light of the recent events in Israel, the Peace Tower is illuminated in the colours of the Israeli flag, and the National Flag of Canada is flying at half-mast from now until sunset tomorrow."

—Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons*

*There currently is no Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

Every Accusation Is A Confession

By Miss Kubelik

The speed with which the Republicans have accused President Biden of giving $6 billion to Iran to attack Israel today can only mean one thing.

Benedict Donald gave (or sold) Israeli secrets to Vladimir Putin from "his boxes" of classified info that he kept stored in the shitter at Mar-a-Lago.

In case you're wondering: The $6 billion was frozen money that Iran made off oil sales to South Korea. It was recently unfrozen and is currently banked in Qatar, where it cannot be withdrawn for any purposes other than humanitarian ones, under the supervision of the US government. Nevertheless, Trumpy shills like JD Vance have rushed to repeat the lie that "US tax dollars" funded Hamas's attacks — because they'll always put MAGA mendacity first.

And since they know it's a lie, they have to brand the Biden Administration as quickly as they can, so they can own the narrative.

The question is: What will American media do? Apparently even Fox "News" has told their viewers the truth about the $6 billion. But how will the so-called MSM cover it tomorrow on the Sunday shows? We cats aren't optimistic about that, because — and we never thought we'd say this — the press sucks. Therefore, we HISS.

The Velvet Hammer

While the mainstream media are furiously trying to spin a jaw-droppingly wonderful jobs report as bad news, Dark Brandon just keeps smiling. And he called the press out on that today. We cats PURR.

This Was The Week That Was (And It's Only Thursday)

By Zamboni

Yep, it's not Friday yet, but since we said a few days ago that this was going to be a week to remember, we thought we owed you faithful readers a recap. Because who knows what'll happen tomorrow!

On the Benedict Donald front, things are rapidly going south. "My Kevin" has become the first Speaker in American history to be fired by the House of Representatives. The judge in Trump's New York civil fraud trial hit Donald with a partial gag order, and then Forbes scratched him off their top 400 list. (As Tish James is showing, maybe he never qualified for the list in the first place.)

Meanwhile, Georgia co-defendants are flipping. Lawyers for Rudolph Giuliani and the Pillow Man are dropping like flies (they don't work for free, ya know). George Santos's campaign treasurer is taking a plea deal. The Republican knives are out for Matt Gaetz. And tonight, ABC News says Benedict Donald shared American nuclear secrets with an Australian billionaire (not Rupert Murdoch).

But wait, there's more: We don't want to raise expectations, but there have been five sealed cases filed in DC court in the last several weeks — "sealed," as in, not available to the public. Are indictments of Congress members coming down for January 6? Gee, it's not as if there's anything going on in the House these days anyway.

And here's some excellent news from the True North. Not only did the House of Commons elect its first Black speaker, but on the same day, the province of Manitoba turned out its Conservative government and voted in the NDP, installing Canada's first First Nations premier, Wab Kinew.

This is a warning shot to federal Conservatives and their detestable leader, Pierre Poilievre, who are working overtime to be as Trumpy as they can get. Tories in Manitoba followed the same playbook, running awful attack ads in the last days of the campaign that turned off voters in droves. "The US-style ads...were sleazy and sensationalist," a Winnipeg Free Press columnist observed. "They were cooked up by inept, far-right zealots in the Tory central campaign who are hopelessly out of touch with the political culture of Manitoba."

Because the news is often wall-to-wall Trumpism, it can seem like Benedict Donald and his acolytes are taking over the world. They aren't. In fact, they're failing badly. We cats PURR.

Picture Of The Day

Ladies and gentlemen, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the United States, "Petit Pat" McHenry of North Carolina. (See, we can do Trumpy nicknames, too!) He doesn't have very much power, but since he's only about five-foot-six, he likes to pretend that he does. We cats HISS.

Misfires

By Baxter

The House elected a new Speaker today — and he's Black!

Sorry, we did it again. It was the House of Commons in Canada, not here in the US (lol!). Craig Fergus, Liberal MP from Quebec, is the first Black Canadian to hold the speakership, which is not a bad outcome when you consider how House members mistakenly applauded a Nazi last month.

Meanwhile, the United States House of Representatives is in chaos, thanks to idiot Republicans who, unlike Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, don't know how to govern with a five-seat majority. Benedict Donald, freshly gagged in his New York fraud trial, must be relieved for once that he's not the lead story of the day. (Or maybe not.)

Either way, it's a hoot to look back on the thrilling "Young Guns" of yesteryear and realize that they're all gone now. And they were all chased out of office by ultra-fringey nutcases on their side of the aisle whom they foolishly thought they could handle.

Back in 2014, then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor considered teabagger Dave Brat such a nuisance primary challenger that he barely bothered to drive back to his Virginia district to campaign. Surprise! After a tumultuous tenure, Speaker Paul Ryan quit in 2018 to "spend more time with his family." And now, of course, Kevin McCarthy is history because Everything Trump Touches Dies.

In addition to their many, many missteps, all these guys — plus John Boehner, one of the lamest House Speakers ever — should obviously have cracked the whip with the crazies and gotten them in line. But they didn't do it because they are weak, ineffectual men. And now, who knows what tomorrow will bring? At least Democrats have a great leader-in-waiting in Hakeem Jeffries. We cats applaud Hakeem for his masterful performance today, and we HISS at the hapless GOP.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Fabulous Week Edition

By Sniffles

Back when Joe Biden was Vice President, one of our favorite amusements was watching C-SPAN on the day he swore all the Senators in. He was funny, warm and welcoming (to everybody, we might add). He clearly loved the Senate, and his job.

The next few days should bring another wonderful "welcome to the Senate" moment, when Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Laphonza Butler to succeed the late Dianne Feinstein. Many congratulations to California Governor Gavin Newsom for a brilliant appointment — and here are some other fun things we're watching during this first week in October.

Benedict Donald sure had a crabby day in his civil fraud trial today. He was fidgety, annoyed, turning colors, and finger-wagging, both inside and outside the courtroom. He bitched about New York Attorney General Letitia James and, inexplicably, whinged about the presiding judge. (Handy reminder: Trump asked for a bench trial. Or let's just say that his stupid attorney neglected to check the "Yes, we want a jury" box on the form she filed.) And this was just the first day! There's probably not enough popcorn in the world to get us through this.

Meanwhile, down in Georgia, it looks like Bernard Kerik is flipping for DA Fani Willis. At least, he wants immunity. And that's on top of co-defendant Scott Hall cutting a deal to plead guilty and testify. The Willis walls are closing in, aren't they?

Over on Capitol Hill, the shenanigans continue. MAGAts like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are just furious at the hapless Speaker McCarthy for relying on Democrats and a handful of semi-reasonable Republicans to keep the government open this weekend. At first today, it seemed like Gaetz was waffling on his commitment to try to throw Kev out of the speakership. But now he's filed his motion to vacate. What were we just saying about popcorn?

The Jimmy Carter 99 celebrations were everything we hoped they would be. And since the government didn't shut down, folks got to enjoy a second day of 99-cent admission, with cake, games and birthday-card-making, at The Carter Center in Atlanta. Best thing about it: Jimmy and Rosalynn were around to hear about it. P.S. Can we get one of those Jimmy Carter 99 baseball caps?

We'll close on a slightly down note. It should be bigger news that at their phony impeachment "inquiry" last week, Republicans presented fabricated evidence — which Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately called them out on. Is it possible that politics and government are so suffused with Trumpian nutbaggery that this is not a scandal? Apparently the answer is yes. We cats HISS.

UPDATE: A reminder from a canny tweep that Trump's outrage about not getting a jury trial is all performance art. "He intentionally wanted to avoid a jury. He is a well-established con man in New York. His legacy of discrimination, filing for bankruptcies and stiffing contractors is known to all." Thoughts and prayers for Alina Habba, not.

A Practically Perfect Day In Every Way

It's not only Jimmy Carter's 99th birthday today — it's Dame Julie Andrews's 88th! We cats send them both our best wishes, and we PURR.