Aug 13 2020
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Michael F

The Rot Runs Deep

zombies_maga_675

Not to get ahead of things — sending Trump packing, and fitting him for a matching orange jumpsuit, is still Step One  — but goddamn if there’s not a whole lot of stupid out there

Marjorie Taylor Greene triumphed in the Republican primary for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the reddest in the country, meaning she’s odds-on to win the general election in November, too. She won 58 percent of the vote in a matchup with Dr. John Cowan, a neurosurgeon. (“She is not conservative—she’s crazy,” Cowan said of Green. “She deserves a YouTube channel, not a seat in Congress. She’s a circus act.” Clearly, she’s what Republicans in the 14th district want.) Green runs a construction company with her husband, and also believes that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against a cabal of Satanist pedophiles in the Democratic Party, the media, and beyond. She has also suggested Muslims should not hold public office; called George Soros, who is a Holocaust survivor, a Nazi; and said Black Americans “are held slaves to the Democratic Party.” Naturally, she has the support of the President of the United States.

…

Greene is the most likely to win in November, but she’s one of many QAnon believers who are gunning for seats in the national legislature. In this equation, they will serve side-by-side with at least some people they believe are engaged in the ritualistic sexual abuse of children. This does not sound like a recipe for bipartisan cooperation. But it’s far worse than any of that. The QAnon thing, as an article in The Atlantic laid out in June, is far closer to a religion than any run-of-the-mill Internet conspiracy theory at this point. It is completely impervious to evidence, real-world events, and reason. It sprung from a prior conspiracy theory, Pizzagate, which held, among other things, that a Hillary Clinton-led child-trafficking ring was operating out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizza parlor. The establishment, Comet Ping Pong, does not have a basement

…

There’s a reason these folks keep accusing people, basically at random, of engaging in pedophilia. They fantasize about the day Hillary Clinton will not just be arrested, but summarily executed. Will there be a trial? Who needs one when you’ve done your own research? And what happens if the arrest never comes, and Donald Trump fails to win re-election, and these people believe the pedophiles are running free at the summit of world power again? What will they do to find their own version of justice?

Would be nice if the corporate media gave QAnon the Hillary’s-emails treatment, but sad to say I’m not holding my breath.

Aug 13 2020
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Adrastos, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: Whip Hand

Is this Chuck Rhodes’ dream woman?

The last word goes to the Rolling Stones:

 

Aug 12 2020
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Adrastos, Campaign Notes, Elections, Fog Of History, Political Crack

That’s The Ticket

Good news is so rare in 2020 that I’m not sure I recognize it anymore. Just kidding: Joe Biden’s selection of California Senator Kamala Harris is good, indeed historic, news. She’ll be the first black woman as well as the first Asian Pacific person to be on a national ticket. She was my first choice for the Veep slot and second choice in the primary after Senator Professor Elizabeth Warren. I am pleased.

The process was messy. People took a gossipy Politico story about the Veepstakes way too seriously. Some on Team Biden apparently thought Harris is “too ambitious” as if ambition is only seemly for male politicians. That’s why Charlie Pierce calls it Tiger Beat On The Potomac.

Fortunately, Joey Shark is comfortable in his own skin and secure enough to select someone with better rhetorical skills as his number two. Kamala Harris is the right person at the right time. Her own campaign flopped, but she’s been a force to be reckoned with as a first term Senator. That’s as rare as President* Pennywise telling the truth.

Team Trump is already overreacting to the Harris pick. The Impeached Insult Comedian called her “nasty” for being mean to Justice Bro during his confirmation hearings. Poor baby. They’re calling Harris a “phony” for criticizing Biden when she was running against him. That’s rich considering the shit Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz threw at Trump in 2016. Besides, it goes with the territory: in 1960 LBJ essentially called JFK an invalid and in 1980 Poppy Bush denounced “voodoo economics.” They were both on the ticket. And Bush became an exuberantly loyal Veep for 8 years. That’s some weak shit as is the cliched “too radical” attack.

There were some rumblings from the “Kamala is a cop” crowd on the performative left yesterday. Nobody is better suited to help reform the criminal justice system than someone who has worked in it. Call it the “reformed sinner” argument. She can follow in the footsteps of her fellow Californian Jerry Brown. When Brown became an advocate for radical campaign finance reform, he argued that he could change the system because he understood it.

I’m not going to defend Harris’ record as a prosecutor, I’ll let San Francisco public defender Niki Solis do it:

“Having had this experience, I feel compelled to speak on Harris’ record while she was a district attorney. Simply put, Harris was the most progressive prosecutor in the state. This is not an anecdotal opinion. It is based on facts.

As San Francisco DA, Harris refused to seek the death penalty — even on a case where a very respected police officer was tragically killed. Marijuana sales cases were routinely reduced to misdemeanors. And marijuana possession cases were not even on the court’s docket. They were simply not charged. Unless there was a large grow case, or a unique circumstance, this was the reform-minded approach then-DA Harris’ office took. The accusations about marijuana prosecutions being harsh during her tenure are absurd. The reality was quite the opposite.”

There was much glee in my social media circles over the prospect of a Harris-Pence debate. Sure, she’ll clean his clock but the quadrennial discussion of the importance of debates causes my eyes to glaze over. Debates have nothing to with governing and have minimal impact on the election results. If debates were as important as some seem to think, we’d have had Presidents John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Hell, Willard Mittbot Romney cleaned Barack Obama’s clock in their first debate and held his own in the other two. Who won in 2012?

The Harris pick makes perfect sense politically. Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic party. Joe Biden has probably gathered as many white working class votes as possible. Turnout remains the key in 2020. If yesterday’s reaction is any indication, African American turnout should be back to 2008 and 2012 levels this time around.

I’m hoping that there will be more outreach to the Indian-American community than there was during Harris’ own run for the top job. Ethnic politics are as American as apple pie. Having the daughter of a Jamaican man and an Indian woman on the national ticket sends a powerful message of inclusion. It presents a stark contrast to the Current Occupant who is one of the most xenophobic and racist presidents* in American history.

A final note. Senator Harris’ first name is pronounced COMMA-LA. It’s an Indian name that means lotus or pale red in Sanskrit. It’s now the name of the next Vice President of the United States. Make it so, America, make it so.

Aug 12 2020
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Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Diary, Music

Album Cover Art Wednesday: Blues Cross Country

2020 is the centennial of Peggy Lee’s birth. Plans for an elaborate concert at the Hollywood Bowl were foiled by the pandemic. To paraphrase myself, no songs for the pandemic.

Dr. A and I recently watched a documentary about Peggy Lee’s life and music on PBS. It was a love letter from her granddaughter that was chock-full-o-clips. She was a staple on the variety shows that were plentiful when I was a kid. I remember watching with my mom: she’d get particularly excited when Miss Peggy Lee was slated to appear. It was Scandinavian farmer’s daughter pride at its finest.

Blues Cross Country is a 1962 concept album featuring songs about places in the US&A. The music was arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones and Peggy Lee co-wrote half the songs on the album.

As you can see, the cover is quilty but it has nothing to do with Clare Quilty theNabokov character.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

 

 

Aug 11 2020
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Athenae, Music

There’s Some Whores in This House

Everyone was clowning on The Virgin Ben yesterday which I’m glad we all had fun with, we desperately needed it:

I am just super done with white people freaking out about Black women’s music, and Black music generally. I grew up in the Tipper Gore/2 Live Crew era and even as a white kid it was fucking embarrassing that these were our adult public figures acting as if hearing grown-ass people recite the lyrics to “Me So Horny” was any less traumatizing than half-hearing them sung by their progenitors.

This made me cringe so hard I turned inside out:

If you cannot understand the cultural thing that is happening, it is possible to just, like, not engage with it. My experience of hip-hop is generally reading about beefs online and sometimes I find things I enjoy that way, but I try not to make my ignorance Cardi B’s problem, you know?

Like no one is tying you to a chair and forcing you to listen to WET ASS PUSSY over and over.

Unless you’re into that sort of thing.

Figure it out in the comments.

But this is the thing, right? This is where we’re at, nice white people of my age or older who are posting WHO ARE ALL THESE HOS the day after the VMAs or whatever. We don’t control the culture, maybe we never did, and we are MAD about it. A professor I had in college said 90 percent of the freakout about the Civil Rights Movement was being afraid white kids would listen to Black music and have sex. People my own damn age, worried about what their daughters are wearing, in a fucking pandemic and a financial crisis.

We’re all going to be going to school online forever but do tell me about the scandalous bikini tops you see on the beach.

I mean, thank God we have two women’s (hot) bodies to freak out about, or we might have to think about how we hit 5 million cases of COVID this week and the president’s plan is to close his eyes and fuck with the postal service.

A.

Aug 11 2020
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Athenae, Television

Not Everything Sucks

Doom Patrol still exists: 

Not only do I need to know what happens to my favorite crew of screw-ups, I need more of them working through their trauma and growing. The thing I adore about Doom Patrol is that no one on the show is static. Miranda mentioned in the episode that she wanted to keep Kay and all her personalities moving forward, and even though she was maybe evil when she said that, she’s right.

It’s a weird show about broken people healing each other, which is always my jam, and found family, which is also always my jam, and YES ALL THE GRANT MORRISON THINGS, but it’s also so hopeful, and surprising, and tender and Timothy Dalton is doing IT ALL this season which is not a thing I thought I’d ever write.

If Succession — another show about which I will talk to you for hours — is about illustrating the effects of inter-generational trauma, about how kids would rather believe they’re pieces of shit than hold in their minds the idea that their parents are wrong, then Doom Patrol is about how we go on from the realization that our parents WERE wrong, and what you do when your whole inner life was formed in a funhouse mirror.

The house only looks haunted if you grew up in it.

You keep stumbling forward, limping forward, clawing forward with your nails and the teeth you sharpened in the dark while you waited for someone to pull you up out of the well. And it’s the joy, the unspeakable unfurling wing-spreading joy of grabbing the rope and realizing you’re strong enough now, to pull yourself out. Hand over hand.

A.

Aug 10 2020
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Adrastos, Diary, Music, Songs For The Pandemic

Book Faded Brown

Life is slowly returning to what passes for Gamaliel’s normalcy at Adrastos World HQ. In addition to the sudden passing of Paul Drake, I have a dying computer on my hands. It warned of its own sudden death, but it’s going slowly like Jimmy Cagney in The Roaring Twenties. I already had a hand-me-down PC on hand so once I got a mighty 256 GB flash drive my panic subsided. The dust bunnies under the desk don’t scare me none.

I’ve had a bad case of writer’s block in the last week. So bad that I pushed my 13th Ward Rambler column back to next Wednesday. I’m rarely blocked here but all I could write about at length was PD’s passing. The block’s grip seems to be relenting: I have a potpourri post in mind and I’m hoping to write it later today. If not, there’s always Wednesday.

Let’s move on to the latest entry in the Songs For The Pandemic series. I had never checked the songwriting credits for The Band’s Jubilation album. I assumed that Book Faded Brown was written by Rick Danko since it’s so perfect for his voice. Wrong. It was written by Paul Jost a singer-songwriter with jazzy inclinations. I was right about one thing: this sad song is perfect for Rick’s plaintive voice. FYI, when I sing along with The Band, I always sing Rick Danko’s part; loudly, not well.

The song’s protagonist is singing about life, death, and family. It’s timely as we have all three on our collective minds right now. It’s timeless because it’s reminiscent of a John Ford funeral scene. It’s that good.

 

 

Aug 10 2020
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Free Republic, The Darnold, Tommy T

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Interview with a cockwomble edition

Well, I guess everybody and his / her brother / sister has seen The Darnold’s – interesting – AXIOS interview by this point.

Unfortunately (for them), so have the Freeperati :

{Barf Alert – MSM} Trump Collapses Under Pressure of Extremely Basic Follow-Up Questions About COVID-19
Rolling Stone ^ | 5 August 2020 | Ryan Bort

Posted on 8/7/2020, 4:12:11 AM by Cronos

…We caught a glimpse of it last month when Chris Wallace of Fox News dismantled Trump’s argument that Joe Biden wants to defund the police. But we saw the complete picture on Monday night when with the help of a few color-coordinated charts the president hopelessly stumbled and bumbled his way through a train wreck of an interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios, which aired on HBO. … Because the president didn’t have the luxury of calling on another reporter, he was forced to at least attempt to clarify his nonsensical arguments, like why the percentage of the American population that has died due to COVID-19 complications isn’t really that important. He could not do this, of course, and the result was one of the most incoherent, depressing, and flat-out embarrassing interviews of Trump’s presidency.

…jonathanvswan: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc.”

realdonaldtrump: “You can’t do that.” … When Swan points out that only 300 people in South Korea have died, out of a population of over 50 million, Trump says, “You don’t know that,” implying the nation is lying about its death rate.

(Excerpt) Read more at au.rollingstone.com …

****************************

The MSM is having a field day.
Noticed that, did you?
Why did President Trump deign to be interviewed by this “journalist”?

Because he thinks everyone on this planet was born to kiss his ass?

President Trump should not be falling for MSM tactics and should just wait for the debates – he’ll demolish Biden

1 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:12:11 AM by Cronos

First of all – “Barf alert”?
.
Barf
               “I resent that!”
To: Cronos

 

‘he’ll demolish Biden’

you’re certain of that, are you…? because Trump has set Biden up as such a dummy, it will be simple for Joe to hold his own in the debate, simply by not drooling and soiling his pants… and if there’s one thing Biden is a master at, it’s obfuscating so much that the other guy can’t get a point across…

Trump won’t have the luxury of debating an overconfident, under informed ideologue like Hillary Clinton this time, who was easy to fluster; and if Trump gets knocked off stride like this guy did to him, we’ll be looking at the most inept debate contestants in quite some time.

7 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:25:50 AM by IrishBrigade

Also, if The Darnold tries to hover over Uncle Joe’s shoulder like he hovered over Hillary’s at their debate, I feel like Biden might turn around, and the next thing Traitor Tot knows, he’ll be on his back looking at the stage lighting.
To: Cronos 

It doesn’t look good to dismiss the number of deaths.

It is what it is.

I hope he comes up with a better response because this question will be asked again.

6 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:24:34 AM by nbenyo

And THEN….
.
Someone comes right out and says it :
To: nbenyo

 

I didn’t want to say this before, but his answers are possibly showing signs of dementia. I hope it’s not true, but he’s been pretty out of it this whole year.

8 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:27:04 AM by Monty22002

exploding_head
Blasphemer3
To: IrishBrigade

 

This is one of the worst interviews I’ve seen since Prince Andrew’s. I can’t even finish it. I’m sick.

9 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:30:06 AM by Monty22002

OtherwiseOKcarFail
To: IrishBrigade 

Yeah, at best he’s clearly tired. I’m really hoping that’s all it is and for God’s sake keep him away from Twitter for awhile!

Good luck with that one.

The position ages everyone, go in dark haired  stupid, go out white  stupider.

20 posted on 8/7/2020, 4:44:02 AM by Monty22002

FIFY.
.
And WTF makes you think Donnie’s hair wasn’t already white?
To: Monty22002

 

Exactly who is going to “keep him away from twitter for a while”??

32 posted on 8/7/2020, 5:06:04 AM by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. – Marilyn vos Savant)

He’s got a point.
To: Cronos

 

I really hope that’s the case, but this was a bad interview. I haven’t seen it posted anywhere else so hopefully nobody actually saw it.

44 posted on 8/7/2020, 5:58:43 AM by Monty22002

Bwahahaha
.
More “Dementia Donnie” musings below the fold….

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Aug 09 2020
1 Comment
Athenae, Do Something

Another Mutual Aid Thread

All right.

It’s pretty definitively up to us, right? 

 America’s prodigious infection rates are also a testament to our own national failure — and therefore a source of existential ghastliness, of sheer perversity: Why on earth were so many of us sacrificing so much in these past four and a half months — our livelihoods, our social connections, our safety, our children’s schooling, our attendance at birthdays and anniversaries and funerals — if it all came to naught? At this point, weren’t we expecting some form of relief, a resumption of something like life?

 

We did this back at the start. What do people need? A connection, help with rent and groceries, what? People were pretty hosed before this dragged on for months and now it’s not going to be better until months from now, so how can those of us who can help help those of us who need it?

If you need something drop a note in the comments. If you can offer something drop a note in the comments. Don’t be ashamed or reluctant, everybody needs help sometimes, and those who can provide it and have read here this long know that our fate is your fate.

A.

Aug 08 2020
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Adrastos, Diary, Music, Odds & Sods

Saturday Odds & Sods: The Want Of A Nail

Pandora's Box Magritte

Pandora’s Box by Rene Magritte.

It’s been a challenging week at Adrastos World HQ. In addition to Paul Drake’s passing, I’ve had computer issues. I’m transitioning to a new-ish PC because the old one warned me that its hard drive was failing. I’m hastily transferring stuff via flash drive but it’s a slow process. Oy, such a week.

That was a roundabout way of saying that I’m not up to writing a full-blown Saturday post this week. There’s a lot to write about but my energy level is low, low, low.

We do, however, have a theme song that sums up my ennui. Todd Rundgren wrote The Want Of A Nail in 1989. It was the opening track of his Nearly Human album, which is, perhaps my favorite solo Todd record.

We have three versions of this Todd Tune for your listening pleasure: the studio original; a 1990 live version and a duet from Live at Daryl’s House.

 

 

 

That’s it for this week. In honor of my dearly departed cats, the cast of Perry Mason gets the last word and I’m not talking about the sad sack HBO show:

Perry Mason Meme

 

Aug 07 2020
1 Comment
Adrastos, Friday Cocktail Hour, Music

They Can’t Take That Away From Me

Rat Pack Cocktail Hour

With George and Ira Gershwin’s They Can’t Take That Away From Me, we move from the realm of the pure torch song to wistfulness world. It was introduced in the Astaire-Rogers movie Shall We Dance. In that 1937 classic, Fred and Ginger do not dance after or during the number. Heresy. They did so in their 1949 reunion flick. The Barkleys Of Broadway, which is where we begin:

The song is often identified with Sinatra, especially after Bill Zehme’s book. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’ was published in 1997. That’s why we present two versions by Old Blue Eyes:

 

What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without an instrumental by a Jazz great?

Both Billie and Ella recorded swell versions of this song. I flipped a coin and it landed on Ella. The next coin toss will go to Lady Day:

Finally, the oddest and quirkiest version of They Can’t Take That Away From Me. It comes from Brian Wilson who reimagined it as a bouncy Beach Boys tune:

Pour yourself a drink and toast the end of a grueling week. Cheers from Bogie, Betty, and Frank:

Cocktail Hour Closer

 

 

Aug 07 2020
1 Comment
Adrastos, Catblogging, Twitter

Friday Guest Catblogging: Turntable Follies

I’ve never used a Tweet in this feature before, but this video taken by Little Buddy’s human is priceless:

 

Cat ownership? Kyle is confused: Little Buddy owns him, not vice versa.

 

Aug 06 2020
Michael F

Scandals Large Or Small, He’s Got Them All

madness_trump_635

Yeah, I’m sick and tired of winning.

Yesterday President I-Alone-Can-Fix-It insisted kids are “virtually immune” from Covid-19, a day earlier he mangled the pronunciation of Yosemite (Freudian slip?); he’s continued to brag about a has-grandpa-lost-it cognition test as if it demonstrated his very stable genius…as to-the-ongoing-and-showing-no-sign-of-letting up pandemic, we got a very presidential it-is-what-it-is, which is maybe ever so slightly less batshit insane than “It will go away — like things go away,”  except that he said that, too.

While the pandemic races out of control, the economy continues to implode…

Oh, and Deutsche Bank, which is known for being as sleazy, um, as controversial as the president and is not surprisingly, his preferred bank (or maybe it’s the only bank who’ll have him as a client); anyway, Deutsche Bank revealed they’ve complied with subpoenas related to investigations of alleged Trump organization bank and insurance fraud.

And this is just the recent stuff.

Definitely sick and tired.

Aug 06 2020
Adrastos, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Hellcats

I don’t know about you, but this cover makes me want to hide under the bed.

Aug 05 2020
1 Comment
Adrastos, Catblogging, Diary, Music, R.I.P.

Thank You

It’s been a tough week in New Orleans. Paul Drake’s unexpected death has taken a toll on his people. Shorter Adrastos: Since this is the second time this has happened in 14 months, I don’t feel like writing today.

I would, however, like to thank everyone for the kind words here and on social media. It means the world to Dr. A and me.

What’s a cat post without a picture or two?

Here’s a previously unpublished picture of the krewe of cats named for Perry Mason characters: PD and Della Street. We miss them both.

The last word goes to Sam and Dave and Paul Rodgers:

 

Aug 05 2020
Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Music

Album Cover Art Wednesday: Rick Springfield

I’m just as surprised as you are to see Rick Springfield’s name atop this post. Here’s why: I did a search for “album covers with animals on them”and these doggone covers topped the list. It was destiny or some such shit.

Aug 04 2020
Athenae, So Called Liberal Media

We’re Gonna Get a Really Bitchin’ Book Out of This

Just STOP:

God, political journalism is so stupid right now. Between grownass people yelling SCOOOOOOOOOP at the beginning of all their tweets like goddamn children, like anyone cares, like if it’s really that big a revelation it’ll speak for itself, and now this nonsense courtesy of HBO and its wee Hannibal Lecters who think their role is to describe the foam in which they deliberately flip, it’s no wonder people are mad and scared and susceptible to ridiculousness on the internet.

Ten minutes of morning news and you understand in a visceral way why people vote Republican, much less this crap. What are you telling us that’s NEW, beyond “president opens mouth hole, vomits nonsense,” which to be honest ain’t a scoop anywheres but up your own ass. How are you HELPING here?

The replies to this are full of “but what are we supposed to do, this is our job, to point a camera at a thing and nod thoughtfully” and it would just be pathetically hilarious if people weren’t dying. Is it even possible to rethink what you’re doing, or are you just a parrot that yawps “not our role!” anytime anyone asks you to do a job?

Is there EVEN a way to do journalism without sitting in a chair in front of someone standing at a microphone lying to you? You went to an Ivy for 400 years to do that?

And the GLEE. That’s the thing that gets me. It’s the excited WHEEE CHAOS tone of all these stupid clips, like how great it is that you scooped the world on how the president is a monster idiot asshole who has killed 165,000 people plus. I’m not gonna tell you not to make your bones on the backs of their deaths but can you not STRUT while you do it, you fuckin’ peacocks?

No career is worth someone’s grandmother dying alone while her family watches on FaceTime, good Christ, have the sensitivity God gave a carrot. Keep the sociopathic shit in your group chat where it belongs and nobody will judge you.

A.

Aug 03 2020
23 Comments
Adrastos, Catblogging, R.I.P.

Paul Drake, R.I.P.

2020 has been a terrible year for everyone: death has been depressingly commonplace. I have another passing to report. After a brief illness, Paul Drake has left the building. I use the old Elvis concert phrase because PD was an internet rock star. He deserves a star send-off.

It started last Friday. One minute, he was a normal cat then I left the room. When I returned 10 minutes later, he couldn’t stand up and started dragging himself across the floor. Initially, I thought he had a broken leg.

We raced off to the emergency veterinary hospital. It turned out to be much more serious than a fracture. PD was diagnosed with saddle thrombosis. It’s a malady whose most sinister symptom is clotting in the legs. His hind legs were paralyzed, which was the source of enormous frustration for such a vigorous and hitherto healthy cat.

We followed the course of treatment recommended by the vets. We knew survival was a long shot but, despite the pain meds, he was still present and fighting for his life. Yesterday when we arrived for a visit, he started purring the minute he saw us. It was a tough visit, but we left hoping Paul Drake could beat the odds. They were too long.

Late last night, the vet called to tell us that he had another blood clot. She asked for instructions. We decided to let the poor dear go.

It was sudden, shocking, and sad: taking only 51-some hours from start to finish. We were dazed all weekend. It’s an unfortunately common problem and is nearly always fatal. PD is a special cat, so I hoped he’d be one of the survivors, but it was not to be.

Some of you have met Paul Drake, others have followed his antics here and on social media since his gotcha day, Twelfth Night, 2018. He was a happy and gregarious boy. When we had Carnival parade parties, he didn’t hide under the bed like a sensible cat, he assumed the party was in his honor. He was certainly the life of the party.

I knew we were in for a bumpy ride when he stopped eating. We took some shredded cheese to the clinic yesterday, but he was not interested. This from a cat who came running every time the refrigerator opened. He seemed to think it was a magic food box full of wonders. I laughed every time it happened.

A word of thanks to Doctor Margaret and her wonderful staff at Avenue Animal Wellness and Emergency in Uptown New Orleans. We had such a bad experience with our former vet’s staff during Della Street’s final illness that we “divorced” after 30+ years. I was nervous about leaving her pesky kid brother in the hands of strangers during the pandemic, but they were magnificent: kind, competent, and transparent. Like everyone else, they were smitten with the charming Mr. Drake. Thanks again, y’all.

The house is quiet without PD’s thunderous footsteps and zany bag-play. I’ll even miss yelling at him for jumping on the counter hoping to steal our supper. He always looked at you as if to say, “I know you’ll forgive me, but I’ll get off anyway.” That’s a confident cat.

I sometimes kvetch about the Tweeter Tube in this space. Not this time. I was overwhelmed by a flood of kind words and best wishes as I updated his status. Thanks again, y’all.

I feel somewhat awkward about going on about my cat’s passing when there is even more suffering in the world than usual. But Paul Drake was special, dammit. He was not just my cat or Dr. A’s cat; he was your cat too. I’m glad I was able to share him with our readers.

The last word goes to Al Green with one of the saddest and loveliest songs I know:

Aug 03 2020
3 Comments
COVID-19, Free Republic, Tommy T

Today on Tommy T’s obsession with the Freeperati – Darwin Award edition

Get those ISO suits on and crank up your oxygen supplies, chillen.

Freeperville has become The Andromeda Strain sequel.

Rep. Louie Gohmert tests positive for coronavirus
The Sun ^ | July 29 | Mollie Mansfield

Posted on 7/29/2020, 10:18:50 AM by RandFan

TEXAS Representative Louie Gohmert has tested positive for coronavirus just before he was set to accompany Donald Trump on Air Force 1.

The 66-year-old tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House on Wednesday.

The eighth-term Republican attended the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday where Attorney General Bill Barr was quizzed by reps.

He was sat at the podium asking questions without wearing a face mask.

Gohmert previously told CNN that he was not wearing a covering as he was regularly being tested for the virus.

“[I]f I get it, you’ll never see me without a mask,” he said.

*****************

I wish Congressman Gohmert a speedy recovery. He looked fine the other day so could be asymptomatic like Rand Paul.He will be fine.

1 posted on 7/29/2020, 10:18:50 AM by RandFan
GoodfellasLaughing
To: RandFan

 

No worries Dr Stella Emmanuel is right down the road with Hydroxychloroquine + Zinc + Zpak in hand.

3 posted on 7/29/2020, 10:20:59 AM by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)

AlienSemen
To: RandFan

 

Strangely enough Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler, Maxine Waters, AOC, Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Brennan, Obama, Michael Obama, and the test of the treason crew all seem immune

9 posted on 7/29/2020, 10:23:15 AM by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free equal justice under the law will never exist in the USA)

Um – that’s because they’re not shit-stupid and take precautions, you brain-dead twatwaffle.

To: RandFan

Not sure why he attended the committee hearing after testing positive.

Let me venture a guess – there are more intelligent creatures lying on their backs at the bottom of ponds?

Seems irresponsible to me. Especially since his statements/questions to Barr were silly and worthless.

I usually like Gohmert, but I think he was wrong to attend the hearing.

13 posted on 7/29/2020, 10:25:28 AM by faucetman (Just the facts, ma’am, Just the facts)

Thinkest thou?
To: RandFan

 

Personally If I was a Republican and especially a Trump Supporting Republican I would be careful the other side isn’t sending in a Typhoid Mary to infect them… Dangerous game to play as it may backfire and infect the dems but there are always upsides to every downside…..

62 posted on 7/29/2020, 11:47:36 AM by lakeman (Semper Fi)

TinfoilConspiracy
To: KC_Lion

 

How many well-known people will have to catch this bug and NOT die before people catch on to the scam?

38 posted on 7/29/2020, 10:37:23 AM by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)

Funny you should ask that.

Herman Cain is hospitalized with coronavirus ABC 7 WWSB ^ | July 2, 2020 | Ed Payne Posted on 7/2/2020, 1:41:11 PM by Coronal

ATLANTA (Gray News) – Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain is hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 74-year-old found out Monday that he had coronavirus and by Wednesday “had developed symptoms serious enough that he required hospitalization,” a statement on his Twitter account said.

“Mr. Cain did not require a respirator, and he is awake and alert.”

Cain, a cancer survivor, attended a highly publicized Trump political rally last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In photo posted to his Twitter account, he was shown not wearing a mask and not social distancing in the crowd of thousands.

1 posted on 7/2/2020, 1:41:11 PM by Coronal
Love your handle.
To: Coronal

. . . attended a highly publicized Trump political rally last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

here it comes.

4 posted on 7/2/2020, 1:43:28 PM by JohnBrowdie
Here it comes, indeed.  Click on “continue reading” to – well – you know….

Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Aug 02 2020
3 Comments
Athenae, Catblogging

Sunday Catblogging

This fat lard:

lard

Every morning Slade comes over to the breakfast table and flops like this, and then if we fail to IMMEDIATELY notice how stunningly cute he is, he’ll start chirping and “mrawp!” at us until he gets the pets he deserves.

A.

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