Ripping off the Band-Aid

It was really only a matter of time before the Republicans made it official that we are now a Russian client state; not whether, but when. At some point they were going to have to Come Out and Say It no matter how screamingly obvious it was going to be, no matter how for long we have known it was going to happen (in this case since fall 2016 at the latest). We also knew that the combination of subject matter and parties involved would result in something transcendingly horrific.

Turns out that point was February 28, 2025. You can't say they didn't deliver. Having TASS "accidentally" present was a nice touch.

I have seen enough still pics of the event and read enough transcripts to get a sense of what happened. I have no plans to watch any video as I would see or hear nothing unexpected from the Republicans, just more of the same profoundly damaged, intellect-bereft kayfabe.

But I will take a moment to pile on to this rising star, this eminent member of the new generation of GOP (Gang of Putin) leaders followers:

All sorts of comparison to canines on this list but dogs at least have the benefit of being good.

I have heard rumors of members of the conservative intelligentsia being "upset" by these latest completely unpredictable developments. Wondering where they land on this:

Show me on your offshore bank account where the Russians touched you

Oh and I see laudable demonstrations of support for Ukraine on Facebook, but I also see it on the pages of folks who I know did not vote for Harris (reminder to Find Yourself Here; I think I will add this to the righthand column). They have no business posting that and they have my profound contempt.

That'll tell 'em. Which, by the way, seems to be MAGA's interpretation of the Republicans' treatment of Zelenskyy*.

*Transliteration of the various versions of Cyrillic has always been contentious and politically influenced. This is how it appears on his X account (I know, I know).

I Find Your Lack of Faith in Cesar Milan Disturbing

h/t J

Dogs and Performance Artists Living Together, Total Chaos

Eighties aficionados worldwide, not to mention their dogs, envy their Australian counterparts after Laurie Anderson performs a concert for their dogs.

I'm a big fan of Laurie Anderson and saw her twice, once in Boston in the late '80s (have to dig up the ticket stub for the exact date - yeah, I'm one of those people, but not one of these people*) and once in DC in 1990. I always thought that she and recent blogroll addition David Byrne should get married and produce supergenius children, but Lou Reed also fits the dynastic marriage bill. (Little late for breeding, though.)

Wonder if she did this:



*Bibliomania, incidentally, is BS. I have several books on this very topic.

Would He Rather It Had Hit the Nearby Fan Instead?

I found this account of a man suing PetSmart for poop-scooping-related negligence in, appropriately enough, Yahoo News.

Does this qualify as one of those "dog shites man" stories?

Department of Improbable Scenarios Case File #42

JWT has alerted me to this account of a dogwalker trampled by cows in England, and sees this as another mark in favor of owning cats. He's got a point in that no cow would ever make it through those little door flaps.

From the Story Highlights: "Experts say it's very unusual for people to be killed by cows." Can't argue with that. There's also helpful advice about what to do if you're walking a dog and feel threatened by cows. I guess my advice would be "stay the hell away from cows" but perhaps the North of England is not sufficiently expansive.