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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Wut Choo Looking At?

Wut Choo Looking At?

by Tom Levenson|  February 16, 201810:48 am| 59 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Proud to Be A Democrat, Make The World A Better Place

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Tikka is not amused:

 

Meanwhile:  this is the kind of thing a good representative does:

This isn’t headline legislation. It’s not going to transform lives tomorrow, or next month.  It’s not going to answer the question of why, in a modern, extremely wealthy and technologically sophisticated country, everyone isn’t sure of their next meal.  It doesn’t even make a difference to many folks in the slice of the problem under scrutiny: elite colleges, for example, are pretty good about making sure everyone’s on a meal plan.

But it does move the ball.  Maybe just a little — but you take the small steps when you can get them along with (and especially in between) the breakthroughs. There are lots and lots of students for whom college is a struggle.  Food insecurity doesn’t help, or rather, it just makes life worse, perhaps derailing education altogether.  This is an attempt to ease that burden, not now, not fast, but sooner than it would have been without this one senator’s intervention.

In other words:  good leaders do good in plain view and way below the reader radar. Let’s elect more of them this fall.

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Previous Post: « Is Donald Trump a Cheating Piece of Shit?
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Reader Interactions

59Comments

  1. 1.

    Jerzy Russian

    February 16, 2018 at 10:51 am

    Suggested captions:

    Come over here and explain to me what happened to my testicles.

    Come any closer and I will chew off your head and shit down your neck.

  2. 2.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 10:51 am

    Floofy belly of doom.

  3. 3.

    Tom Levenson

    February 16, 2018 at 10:52 am

    @Jerzy Russian: Pretty much.

  4. 4.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 11:00 am

    @Tom Levenson: Such a handsome boy, I will remain a diehard fangirl, furevver and ever.

  5. 5.

    HILFY

    February 16, 2018 at 11:00 am

    Obviously the requested tummy rub is not being performed on schedule. The household human had better get on the job, stop fooling with that electronic gadget.
    Thanks for the cat pic first thing in the a.m. That makes the Saturday start better.

  6. 6.

    zhena gogolia

    February 16, 2018 at 11:06 am

    @HILFY:

    And as soon as you start to rub the belly, “the beast will unsheath its claws” (Dostoevsky, The Devils).

  7. 7.

    zhena gogolia

    February 16, 2018 at 11:07 am

    @HILFY:

    So you think it’s Saturday too? I was railing that I didn’t get my Sunday Times magazine this morning, until my husband calmly pointed out that it’s Friday.

  8. 8.

    Tom Levenson

    February 16, 2018 at 11:08 am

    @zhena gogolia: ‘zacktly. I have the proof upon my body.

  9. 9.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 11:09 am

    @Tom Levenson: He doesn’t want you to rub his belly, he wants you to draw him like one of your French girls.

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    February 16, 2018 at 11:10 am

    way below the reader

    Certainly may be true, but I think you meant radar.

    ;)

  11. 11.

    No Drought No More

    February 16, 2018 at 11:12 am

    On the heels of Schumer’s DACA debacle, I think it would be a good idea for him to stepped aside as minority leader. Whether he was outfoxed outright, or simply credulous enough to believe Mitch McConnell, he should cop to it publicly. By citing his falling short in defending Dreamers, his voluntary relinquishment of the leadership would make the perfect bookend to Nancy Pelosi’s marathon defense of them in the House. It would also make the democratic rank and file proud…

  12. 12.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 11:14 am

    @No Drought No More: Ds can’t protect the Dreamers on their own, they don’t control the Senate or the House or the WH for that matter.

  13. 13.

    Gravenstone

    February 16, 2018 at 11:16 am

    Tika setting the famed kitty death trap. Touch my belly, I dare you!

  14. 14.

    Gravenstone

    February 16, 2018 at 11:20 am

    @No Drought No More: You are aware that McCain-Coons was en route to passing cloture, until Shitgbbon Inc. began actively lobbying the Senate against it, right?

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    February 16, 2018 at 11:22 am

    @No Drought No More: If you’re suggesting Minority Leader Patty Murray, I can get behind that. But not from shivving Schumer. In fact Schumer is doing quite well as a Minority Leader. Which makes me question your motivations.

  16. 16.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 11:23 am

    I agree with Greg Sargent, T and his R minions in the Senate own this disaster. We have clarity on who wants what, the votes are in.

  17. 17.

    Brachiator

    February 16, 2018 at 11:25 am

    @No Drought No More:

    By citing his falling short in defending Dreamers, his voluntary relinquishment of the leadership would make the perfect bookend to Nancy Pelosi’s marathon defense of them in the House.

    It’s not just about defending Dreamers. It’s about the larger issue of immigration.

    Schumer should just lay down a challenge. The GOP leadership and even Trump the Chump claim that they care about Dreamers. It should not even be on the table and so crafting suitable legislation should be a piece of cake. Failing that, the president could re-issue an executive order.

    If the Republicans want to sacrifice Dreamers, it is entirely on them.

    ETA: Tikka looks like a totally Boss Kat.

  18. 18.

    But her emails!!!

    February 16, 2018 at 11:27 am

    @No Drought No More:

    Schumer did just fine. DACA went up for a vote in the Senate. Republicans under pressure from Trump killed it. Do we not know how the Senate works and what the term minority leader means?

  19. 19.

    Yutsano

    February 16, 2018 at 11:28 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Tikka is awaiting his sushi grade ahi and belly rubs with follow-up scratching post time.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    February 16, 2018 at 11:29 am

    I’ve said this before: Tikka has the eyes of Lee Van Cleef.

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 16, 2018 at 11:31 am

    @Amir Khalid: Whatchoo mean “bad”, hombre?

  22. 22.

    debbie

    February 16, 2018 at 11:40 am

    Has Tikka ever seemed to be amused?

  23. 23.

    debbie

    February 16, 2018 at 11:41 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Link doesn’t work, but I know who you mean. One scary guy.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    February 16, 2018 at 11:43 am

    When I was in college, there was one summer where I pretty much lived on the tomatoes given to me by the neighbor who had a big garden. They were the staple of every meal but breakfast, and I built my meals around the tomatoes, with other things to round that out a bit

  25. 25.

    Repatriated

    February 16, 2018 at 11:47 am

    @zhena gogolia: Protip: Wear a worn-out leather jacket (that you don’t mind sacrificing) and draw your hand up into the sleeve.

    You get to pet the floof, cat gets to play with claws out, no blood gets shed. Win-win!

    A handy source for suitable leather jackets is the ones you wear when trying to get the aforementioned cat into a pet carrier.

  26. 26.

    Repatriated

    February 16, 2018 at 11:56 am

    @Repatriated: …after forgetting the easy way: Remove the top, and it becomes an irresistible “box to sit in”.

    Otherwise, it’s a “confined space of doom”.

  27. 27.

    Tom Levenson

    February 16, 2018 at 12:09 pm

    @debbie: Oh yeah. I give him a fair amount of grief, here and in TRW. But he can be a sweetie.
    When he chooses.
    And he’s not choosing now.
    (Actually he is. He’s on his towel next to my computer as I type this and we’re having a very nice moment indeed, thank you very much.*)

    *Of course, I just fed him.

  28. 28.

    Peale

    February 16, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    I love how Schumer gets hit with the “We need new faces” complaint. He’s only had the job for one year. Its like our progressive betters have just forgotten Harry Reid and decided that Schumer has been in charge of the Senate Democrats for decades.

  29. 29.

    donnah

    February 16, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    Good for Elizabeth Warren helping lay a groundwork for college student food security. Like Watergirl, my college experience was pretty bare bones. While I was attending a university alongside lots of wealthy students, I was there on a wing and a prayer, my own savings from a full time job, a grant, and a student loan. It was hard to not be envious of girls in my dorm who shopped uptown for clothes and spent their parents’ money on items I considered to be luxuries.

    I know what it’s like to get by on starchy college dining hall food and scrimp to get some chips or coffee. I did feel somewhat proud of getting by on what I had, but there were times when I would have liked shopping uptown, too.

  30. 30.

    opiejeanne

    February 16, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was stunned to hear Olympic skater Adam Rippon say something similar, about living in his coach’s basement while training and eating lots of apples because he had no money. He didn’t explain where he got them but made it sound like that was all he had most of the time.

  31. 31.

    Roger Moore

    February 16, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    @Repatriated:
    I leave my carrier out all the time (with the door off) so my cat gets used to it. He’ll sometimes use it as a place to hide.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    February 16, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    @Peale:

    Its like our progressive betters have just forgotten Harry Reid and decided that Schumer has been in charge of the Senate Democrats for decades.

    If I didn’t know better, I’d think they care more about stirring shit up and knifing Democrats in the back then they do about advancing progressive causes and making the country a better place.

  33. 33.

    opiejeanne

    February 16, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    @donnah: My older daughter was a dance major and for the first year she was on a food plan. A tour of the cafeteria made her comment on something she heard in her department as a warning: The Freshman Fifteen, in reference to the starchy foods in abundance there. There were also some healthy choices but a lot of kids in a hurry and away from a nagging parent for the first time are likely to choose the Mac n cheese or the pizza and walk right past the salad bar and fresh fruit.

  34. 34.

    Bill

    February 16, 2018 at 12:22 pm

    Is there a link to that full letter somewhere?

  35. 35.

    Tom Levenson

    February 16, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    @opiejeanne: While I was on a meal plan the whole time in college, and thus can’t remotely say I suffered, the Polynesian Meat Like Balls were an episodic focus of concern.

  36. 36.

    donnah

    February 16, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    Ha ha, when I was in college, it was the Freshman Ten.

  37. 37.

    japa21

    February 16, 2018 at 12:36 pm

    @Roger Moore: Considering only 3 Dems voted No on McCain-Coombs and it failed by 6 votes, I don’t know how Schumer failed. Specially since the vote on Trumps proposal failed miserably.

  38. 38.

    rikyrah

    February 16, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    Tikka is hilarious

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 16, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    Eating at a diner where the home fries are real chopped up potatoes fried in the griddle. That’s really nice, and unfortunately rare enough that I need to mention it.

  40. 40.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 16, 2018 at 12:45 pm

    @japa21: Clearly he DIDNT. EVEN. TRY.

    Minority leader is picked by the members of the caucus. If they don’t want someone who’s going to aim to please some subset of the non-Senate part of the party a/k/a “the rank and file,” meaning aggrieved Twitterati, they don’t have to. Our Progressive Betters hated Harry Reid too. They hated Tom Daschle, they hated Richard Gephardt, they hated Rahm Emanuel. They hate everybody. It’s their thing. So, fuck them, nobody fucking cares what they think, say, or do.

  41. 41.

    Spanky

    February 16, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Well hang on. They were right about Rahm.

  42. 42.

    hueyplong

    February 16, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    There are lots of people who should be stepping aside. They are not Democrats.

    Maybe we should be concentrating our fire on the other side.

  43. 43.

    Just One More Canuck

    February 16, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    @Peale: Maybe he’s using the same time machine Obama had. Did you ever think of that? Huh?

  44. 44.

    opiejeanne

    February 16, 2018 at 12:54 pm

    I think I have a comment that has disappeared. Can someone free it?

    Oh wait, never mind I think it’s on a previous thread.

  45. 45.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 16, 2018 at 12:57 pm

    This is big.

    Breaking: Special counsel releases new indictment against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of violating U.S. criminal laws in order to interfere with U.S. elections and political processes. https://t.co/LQpayZJZzJ

    — John R Parkinson (@jparkABC) February 16, 2018

  46. 46.

    LAO

    February 16, 2018 at 12:58 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Here’s a link to the indictment: INDICTMENT

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    February 16, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    This seems like a good thread to complain that I have not been seeing enough coverage of the cat curling at the Olympics.

  48. 48.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 16, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    I am looking for a link of the vote count for the Grassley immigration bill, that had the President’s blessings. Thanks.

  49. 49.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 16, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    Mueller indictment: "Defendants also staged political rallies inside the United States, and while posing as US grassroots entities and US persons…solicited and compensated real US persons to promote or disparage candidates."

    — Jonathan Landay (@JonathanLanday) February 16, 2018

  50. 50.

    ixnay

    February 16, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    @Repatriated: This is a time-honored technique. Start a few days ahead if possible.

  51. 51.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 16, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    Ron Rosenstein is speaking about the indictments.

  52. 52.

    debbie

    February 16, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    So you say. But I still wouldn’t turn my back on him.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    February 16, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    @opiejeanne: My guess is that there was an apple tree somewhere close by.

  54. 54.

    zhena gogolia

    February 16, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @Repatriated:

    I use my Tunch sweatshirt.

  55. 55.

    zhena gogolia

    February 16, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    One of them is named Podkopaev, formed from the verb “to undermine.” Hmmmm.

  56. 56.

    J R in WV

    February 16, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    Wow, what a news drop for Friday afternoon. Reading the actual document, into page 17 of 37 pages, here’s a money quote:

    43. By 2016, Defendants and their co-conspirators used their fictitious online personas to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.

    I’ve believed Bernie Sanders was a Russian stooge since the first time I heard him speak about a real subject. Now we know that as far as the Russians were and are concerned, he is one of them!

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack

    February 16, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Vox:

    A more conservative proposal, written by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and backed by the White House, then failed by an even wider margin—with only 39 votes in favor and 60 against.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    February 16, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Bill:

    I did a fair to middling search on the Google and couldn’t find anything. Weird.

    Maybe e-mail Levenson (“Quick Links” at the top of the page) and ask him.

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 17, 2018 at 10:13 am

    @Steeplejack: Thanks, I did see that link earlier. I wanted the names of the Rs that voted against, which I found later from the senate.gov website.

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