Lest We Furr-get: Merle Must Be Spinning

By Miss Kubelik

Is it better that right-wing country singer Merle Haggard died before Benedict Donald stole the 2016 election? Haggard used to make liberals crazy back in the day, and he no doubt would have been insufferable when Trump was in charge. Then again, maybe not. What would Merle say if he were still around?

Because Donald Trump has been spending an awful lot of time trashing the United States. We're "a nation in decline!" "A failing nation!" "A third-world country!" Everything sucks, because Biden and the Democrats are leading the nation into "servitude and ruin." Hm.

None of it is true, of course, and not just because everything Trump says is a lie. Joe Biden has been a good and successful President. We've recovered from COVID, our economy is the envy of the world, and our allies are united behind us once again. But even though Trump fibs like he breathes, Merle Haggard would be very mad. Remember this song?

Hear people talkin' bad about the way we have to live here in this country
Harpin' on the wars we fight, an' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be
An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides, an' standin' up for things they believe in
When they're runnin' down my country, man
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me
Runnin' down a way of life our fightin' men have fought and died to keep
If you don't love it, leave it
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'
When you're runnin' down my country, man
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

 

Congratulations, Benedict Donald and the Republicans who support him! You've just landed on super-patriot Merle Haggard's fightin' side. Even with nine lives, we never thought we'd see it. We cats HISS.

EU: The Center Holds

 

It would be really nice if we Americans could emulate the Europeans and hold our elections on Sundays. (Or at least make Election Day a national holiday.) Either way, more people voting is a good thing. And speaking of Sunday elections, today's results for the European Union Parliament are encouraging (okay, except for France). Polls predicted the far right would capture 20 percent of the seats, but it looks like they'll end up with less than 10 percent. Excellent news, and a reminder of the fallibility of polling, yes? We cats PURR.

How To Be A Good Corporate Citizen

By Zamboni

When Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, he created a lifelong advocate against gun violence. Fred Guttenberg's daughter Jaime was murdered that day, and since then he's devoted himself full-time to reducing gun deaths, restricting ownership of firearms, and supporting President Biden. We love Fred.

And, as Fred has made clear, the Florida Panthers have been very supportive of the entire Marjory Stoneman Douglas community.

"On February 22, 2018, the Panthers memorialized those lost and put up photos of everyone killed at MSD," Fred tweeted today. "What most people did not know at the time is that the MSD hockey team was on its way to earning a spot to playing in the national championship. The Florida Panthers [paid] for the kids to travel through the national championship, and provided the team plane for them to fly on. That is not all that they did.

"In March 2018, the Florida Panthers had the MSD hockey team come to the arena for an on-ice training with our favorite former player, Shawn Thornton. Again, that is not all that they did. At the end of the skate, unknown to everyone participating, the team arranged to have the Stanley Cup at the building. It was brought out for the kids to not only see, but to skate with as well."

How swell is that? We cats were Miami residents and season-ticket holders for the Panthers in 1995-96 — which is reason enough for us to root for them in the Stanley Cup this year. But Fred's story gives us even more of a boost. Let's go, Cats! We (lower-case) cats PURR.

By George!

By Baxter

Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show is not the most erudite political interlocutor, but his hosting of George Conway last night was one of the most important interviews of the 2024 election. In 13 minutes, Conway boils down in plain language the current threat to democracy known as Donald Trump. (Conway doesn't get into the question of the horrifying enablers of the GOP, but that's probably a topic for another show.)

Conway's Trump summation is perfect because it's directed not at us political junkies, but at most Americans — folks who haven't really been tuned in until recently, and who need a quick refresher on what is going on. It's also perfect because, as Chieng points out, Conway carries extra credibility as a conservative Republican. Additional fun facts: He's the former husband of Trumpster KellyAnne, and he's given close to a million dollars to support President Joe Biden's re-election.

As if all that weren't good enough, he mentions Trump's narcissism and cognitive decline. With interviews like this, the mainstream media will not be able to ignore Trump's mental issues much longer. Donald's performance on the stump has featured erratic word salads and incomplete thoughts. His recent sit-down interviews, with Fox & Friends and "Dr." Phil, were not live, and were heavily edited. Sooner or later (probably sooner), the political press will have to admit that Trump will never be able to debate Joe Biden — not in three weeks, not ever.

Meanwhile, President Biden is in France, rallying the free world to the cause of democracy. We cats are happy to be Biden-Harris supporters on the right side of history, and we PURR.

"This Time, I Know Our Side Will Win"

 

Casablanca never gets old. Especially since, unfortunately, Nazis never seem to go away. 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.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: "Madness, Madness" Edition

By Sniffles

Just when you think the Trumpsters, MAGAts and Republicans who enable them couldn't get any crazier, they do. Here are some antics from just this week that conjure up the last line of dialog from Bridge on the River Kwai.

Marjorie Taylor Greene proposed cutting US funding to NATO just as Western leaders, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, gathered for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. If that weren't bad enough, 46 House Republicans signed on with her.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville visited soon-to-be-inmate Steve Bannon's podcast and said that Vladimir Putin "doesn't want Ukraine...doesn't want Europe. Hell, he's got enough land of his own."

Speaker Mike Johnson has named Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry, who had his phone seized by the feds as part of the January 6 investigation, and Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, the MD who ran a pill mill out of the Trump White House, to the House Intelligence Committee. This means that both Perry and Jackson will see some of our most sensitive information about the US and our allies.

Team Trump just released a short video of Benedict Donald in which he's literally foaming at the mouth. It's unclear why they didn't just reshoot it, but their attacks on Biden's age sure have ramped up recently.

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds said that his fellow Black Americans were better off under Jim Crow.

Senate Republicans voted to block a bill to guarantee access to contraception, which the Democrats introduced in the wake of the GOP's war on reproductive rights. The CDC estimates that 98 percent of women have used some form of birth control while they were sexually active, and 90 percent have had a partner who used a condom.

What do we do in response to this idiocy? Storm the polls this November like Wonder Woman crossing No Man's Land. We cats PURR.

Here, Time Magazine, We Fixed It For You

By Hubie and Bertie

Actually, this revamped cover is the fine work of one of the Twitter accounts we follow, and we love it. Looks like this was quite the feisty Dark Brandon interview. It should be: Joe Biden has an astonishing record of accomplishment to run on, and he should take his victory laps and ding his opponents, because that tends to make people notice.

For example, see how he opened today's White House announcement about his executive order on immigration: "I've come here today to do what Republicans in Congress refuse to do: Take the necessary steps to secure our border." He slammed Benedict Donald for killing Senator James Lankford's bipartisan immigration legislation earlier this year.

This is an excellent move, since not everyone may have caught the news a few months ago. But now, post-Trump-criminal-conviction, when more people are paying attention, it's good for Biden to remind them.

The albatross that is Benedict Donald might dawning on Republicans, too. A poll conducted May 24-26 shows that one in three of them thinks that Trump is the wrong choice of nominee — and that was just days before he was convicted in Manhattan. Imagine what the point spread could be now.

So it'll be interesting to see how the so-called Nikki Haley protest vote shakes out in today's final Presidential primaries in Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico. Will Haley's typical 15 percent expand? Trump is even worse — more extreme — today than he was in 2020, and in addition to being a convicted felon (Republicans hate it when we point that out), he's deteriorating mentally.

Watch the clip that people are sharing from 2016, in which Trump screams about Hillary Clinton's nonexistent crimes and how America can't afford to have a felon even run for the White House. The difference between his speaking ability eight years ago and now is stark. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Do Not Pass Go

This amusing image has been making the rounds lately on social media. Seeing stuff like this and reading all the post-conviction coverage this weekend have been fun. It's been striking, though, how many commenters have said that Trump's 34 guilty verdicts represent the first time in his life he's ever had to suffer consequences. Really? Dude lost the 2020 election by more than seven million votes. That sounds like consequences to us, and we'll do it again this fall. We cats PURR.

Felonious Trump, Biking Brandon

By Miss Kubelik

We cats are detecting some rumblings vis-a-vis Benedict Donald and his Manhattan felony convictions. 

Looks like 49 percent of Independent voters and 15 percent of Republicans think he should drop out of the Presidential race now. (That 15 percent are Haley supporters, no doubt.) Hard-core MAGAts like MTG are going after Republican candidates like Larry Hogan in Maryland and even suggesting that New York State should stop receiving federal money. (Who's going to tell her — and what does Elise "Elsie" Stefanik think about that?)

And although the veep wannabes obediently fell in line to support their convicted felon post-verdict, we know that that's about. They're jockeying for the next slot the moment that Donald finally disintegrates.

Meanwhile, President Biden went cycling in Delaware today. We hear that he biked for 34 minutes. You gotta love it.

As for the alleged cash haul that the Trump campaign has raked in since Thursday, we'll believe it when we see it. (Somebody remember to check their FEC report, please.) But even if it's true, who cares? Are they using it to buy TV time in swing states? To open field offices in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina? Sharing it with down-ballot Republican candidates? Nope — it's all going for legal fees. We cats PURR.