Since Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming is running in the Preakness for his second jewel of the Triple Crown today (5 p.m. ET, NBC), this kitty would never pee on his parade and wish him not to win. He’s starting in post position 4 with jockey John Velazquez, and he’s the humans’ favorite with odds of 4-5.
The next horse I’ll be watching is one of my Derby picks, Gunnevera (odds 15-1, pp 6). Nobody’s talking about him as a serious contender, so he could be plotting to take the lead like a ninja and stun everybody. He’s had a jockey switch, and will under Mike Smith this time. His jockey in the Derby, Javier Castellano, will be aboard Cloud Computing in pp 2.
We haven’t spoken, but I would think Gunnevera is pleased with this development, since Castellano helped him come in 7th in the Derby.
My third pick is Classic Empire (odds 3-1, pp 5) with jockey Julien Leparoux. He was the humans’ favorite in the Derby, but finished 4th. I think he deserves a little glory this time for sticking with it.
Only 10 horses are racing, so the field won’t be too crowded. The weather at Pimlico is supposed to be cool, in the 60s, and cloudy, with no rain and a dry track. Basically, perfect conditions for the horses.
It so happens that my horses will be side by side in the middle of the pack in post positions 4, 5, and 6. The last horse who won from Always Dreaming’s 4 slot was Curlin in 2007.
As always, may the best horse win and may they all cross the finish line safely.
For the first time since he made fomenting chaos his new occupation, Donald Trump now finds himself reacting to the news instead of dictating what it will be.
Upon learning that FBI Director Comey kept notes documenting how Trump probably tried to squash the Russia investigation to obstruct justice, Trump issued a terse statement that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Apples to oranges, Trump. Either Trump doesn’t know the meaning of the word “obstruction,” or he’s choosing to refute the charge he thinks he has a better chance of beating. Nice try. Now we’ve got a special prosecutor who isn’t inclined to chase Trump’s squirrels, like Nunes and Chaffetz were.
“Never, ever, ever give up. Things will work out just fine. Look at the way I’ve been treated lately — especially by the media. No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can’t let them get you down.”
See it at 19:17. This video was created by the White House, so let’s see how long it remains available.
I see several takeaways…
When Trump speaks with “surety” about being the most abused president in history, you know it’s bullshit because he’s abysmally ignorant about American history, and presidents in particular.
Anyone planning to meet him on his upcoming foreign trip has better fasten their seatbelts because he’ll undoubtedly be sniveling about how ill-treated he is back home, futilely seeking reassurance from strangers for his corruption and incompetence.
When he repeatedly says things like, “Never, ever give up” and “You can’t let them get you down,” rest assured, “they” are getting him down and he could announce he’s giving up at any minute.
Of course, he won’t phrase it as giving up. I predict Trump will throw in the towel when the subpoenas start flying and his cohorts are singing like canaries to stay out of prison. Trump will say he prefers to return to his “wonderful life” in Trump Tower, or cite pressing Trump business interests that must take precedence over running the country, which nobody ever told him wasn’t going to be a part-time gig.
He may even go so far as to express a desire to spend more time with his family, although those he clearly holds most dear — Ivanka and Jared Kushner— are already with him in the White House every day.
Then Trump will slither away, leaving a trail of slime, as he always does, leaving his hapless enablers to face the consequences. If they go to jail, he’ll pretend he never heard of them.
Trump’s abbreviated administration will flame out as the greatest disaster ever to hit Washington, DC, but he’ll claim to his dying breath that we’ll be seeing his face on Mt. Rushmore any day now because he was the greatest president in American history.
For the first time since the presidential election, I woke up this morning without a feeling of impending doom, thanks to former FBI Director James Comey. It must have been a flash of clairvoyance when I wrote my previous post and envisioned Comey handing Trump the shovel with which to dig his own grave.
Comey’s shovel takes the form of detailed notes on his encounters with Trump.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank Donald Trump himself. His unwavering arrogance, greed, willful ignorance, and insane words and actions have made it possible to get rid of him sooner rather than later.
Trump has barely been in office four months, yet he’s racked up such an impressive roster of potential crimes and conflicts of interest, he’s set a virtual smorgasbord of grounds to nail him on. For good measure, he’s probably put people like Mike Pence, Sean Spicer, and Sarah “Spawn of THAT Huckabee” Sanders in legal jeopardy because they’ve lied their asses off to cover for him. Not that Trump has appreciated it. He’s gone out of his way in TV interviews to expose them as liars with his own loose lips.
To briefly recap: Trump fired Comey, then said he did it because of the Russia investigation. Then Trump threatened Comey, via tweet, not to “leak” anything to the press, lest Trump make public “tapes” he’d secretly recorded.
Just for additional chaos, Trump immediately followed up by feeding highly classified information from Israel to two Russians whom he personally invited to visit the Oval Office and consider it their home away from home.
When I heard yesterday that Comey actually trumped Trump by documenting every meeting and conversation where Trump tried to squash the Russia investigations — all of which can presumably be verified with Trump’s precious tapes — I became positively giddy.
It sent most congressional Republicans skittering like cockroaches under a sun lamp. Charlie Rose said on CBS This Morning today that they had invited 20 Republicans to comment on this development and got no takers.
Through his own miscalculation, Trump has had his poison picked for him. Obstruction of justice it is — for starters. While Congress works on that, the media can continue its investigations into Trump’s myriad fishy financial dealings and verify all his bona fide ongoing conflicts of interest. I like to think of those as the top layer of dirt to be shoveled onto his political coffin.
The evidence against Trump’s operating system of corruption and all-round depravity is stacking up so high, any Republican who continues to defend Trump at this point must have a death wish.
Next up: Trump goes abroad on his first foreign trip, which includes Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. It will provide limitless opportunities for Trump to show other world leaders that the United States chose a clueless fool to lead us.
Waiting for the dust to settle on FBI Director James Comey’s firing before writing about it, I realized the dust never settles with Trump as he lurches from one self-inflicted crisis to the next. The silver lining here is that he’s brought himself closer to impeachment.
After the uproar over Comey’s dismissal, Trump actually had the nerve today on Twitter to threaten Comey into silence…
For the record, when you’re unemployed, you have no job to leak about. Comey the private citizen can now only reminisce about his good old days at the FBI.
Trump’s treatment of Comey was extremely passive-aggressive for a self-described tough guy who probably nursed boners under his conference table whenever he got to say, “You’re FIRED!” to someone’s face on Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump the chicken even timed it so Comey was on the West Coast and saw the news on TV before the actual termination letter made it all the way to the FBI, just blocks from the White House.
That’s gratitude, Trump-style. He practically dry-humped Comey in public every chance he got after Comey helped throw the election to Trump, but the bromance ended as soon as Comey started testifying to Congress and mentioning Russia.
Writing Comey’s termination letter, Trump’s paranoia surfaced as a plug for his own innocence, claiming Comey told Trump three times he’s not under investigation. No doubt that will soon be exposed as another Trump lie, but Trump will keep swearing it’s true because it’s now in writing.
In the aftermath, Trump’s flying monkeys, including Mike Pence, swarmed the media to declare the firing was Trump’s vengeance on Comey’s unchivalrous behavior toward Hillary Clinton.
Were they KIDDING? Who the hell did they think would be believe that, after listening to hours of Trump chanting his mantra, “Lock her up!”
True to form, Trump immediately threw egg on their faces by yapping to NBC’s Lester Holt, stating the Russia investigation totally figured into his decision to fire Comey —because Trump wants the investigation done more quickly. Here’s a link the interview on NBC, which I assume Trump will be unable to scrub.
May 17 NOTE: I originally posted the entire interview below from YouTube, but it disappeared within days, as unflattering footage of Trump seems to do. The photos I used in an early post about Trump dissing Melania at his inauguration suffered the same fate.
Note these things: I think for the first time ever, Trump refers to himself in third person at 1:04. I believe he’s trying to distance his mind from the disgrace and humiliation he knows is coming. He must separate “President Guy” from “Business Guy” to keep his porcelain ego from imploding when impeachment proceedings begin.
Also watch for sniffling. It started during the debates with Hillary. Now he’s under the gun again and it’s back at 2:12, when he claims the Russia investigation is a Democrat excuse. Again at 2:46 when he claims Comey requested a dinner to implore Trump to let Comey keep his job.
For the record: Comey was in year 3 of a 10-year appointment by Obama. He wasn’t on some list of people it was Trump’s prerogative to keep or discard. He’s only the second FBI director to be fired in all of U.S. history. After handing Trump the election, Comey had no reason whatsoever to be concerned about his job.
I believe Trump fired Comey because 1) He can’t stand anyone stealing the spotlight for even one minute; he even revealed his jealousy by calling Comey a “showboater” and a “grandstander,” and 2) Trump feels Comey was tightening the noose on Russia.
To comfort himself with a treat, the very day after Comey’s firing, Trump filled the Oval Office with beaming Russians, photos of which the Russians promptly published. The Trump White House pretended to be shocked — SHOCKED — at the “leak.”
Putin allegedly insisted on that meeting, and Trump caved. Putin’s now playing Trump for a fool while Trump kow-tows, thinking there’s still a chance of earning Putin’s approval and being considered an equal — if only to keep Putin from releasing his dirt on Trump and his whole rotten circle.
At this point, Trump is a lab rat in a maze whose walls are collapsing, and he still can’t figure out where the exit is.
Trump was baffled that anybody got upset about Comey’s firing because he thought saying it was over Hillary was the perfect cover. But his chronic dishonesty has finally caught up with him. Every time he spews a new lie, he digs the hole deeper.
Congress now has no choice but to bring in a special prosecutor because Trump has lawyered up. His every defensive move indicates there’s much more lurking under the tip of this iceberg.
Just today, his legal team, in a letter probably backdated to March 8, since all of Comey’s paperwork dated this week failed to pass the smell test, said there’s basically nothing too Russian in Trump’s taxes for the past 10 years.
But his law firm, Morgan Lewis and Bockius, happens to be part of a global firm that was named “Russia Law Firm of the Year” in 2016 by London-based Chambers and Partners, a firm that ranks lawyers and law firms.
Nope, nothing to see there. I just hope the taxpayers aren’t now picking up the tab for Trump’s bogus legal consultations.
Unlike their more gullible American counterparts, the French people weren’t swayed by the last-minute dump of hacked documents and fake news intended to steer votes to Le Pen. This meddling has already been traced to Russian hackers based in the U.S., and Le Pen, during a debate the night before, hinted that it might happen. Déjà vu, anyone?
France has elected an intelligent, inclusive, well-organized centrist young leader named Emmanuel Macron. By comparison, he shines a spotlight on how far we have let ourselves sink.
Our so-called “leader” is a bloated orange narcissist obsessed with his “hair” who squats in the White House and tries to govern via demented tweets. He aspires to bromances with every brutal despot on the planet, and imagines himself the greatest ruler in history.
In reality, Trump is bilking our treasury to finance his whole family’s lifestyle while they all add to their fortunes through foreign powers who patronize the family businesses to curry favor. For good measure, Trump tries to piggy-back tax breaks for himself and his ilk on every bit of legislation he proposes to Congress. There isn’t enough money in the world to satisfy his insatiable greed.
Earlier this year, Austria and the Netherlands also rejected politicians cut from Trump’s cloth. It’s good to know some countries still have a majority of decent people.
No, wait. SO DO WE!! I have to keep reminding myself that Trump LOST by nearly 3 million votes. The map he can’t stop gloating over shows vast expanses of red covering “YUGE” swaths of unpopulated terrain.
We can thank the obsolete Electoral College for visiting this plague upon our house. Until we get to the heart of Trump’s Russian ties, or he commits enough other crimes to make his removal inevitable — and he will — we’ll have to look to the anti-Trumps governing in Canada and Europe to remember what sanity, integrity, honesty, and justice look like.
It’s that time again! The 143rdRun for the Roses gets underway Saturday, May 6, on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET, with post time at 6:34. This kitty will be cheering for my favorites, although I confess that, during my research, no horse really jumped out and grabbed me from the full field of 20.
Classic Empire is the humans’ favorite (odds 4-1, post position 14) under jockey Julien Leparoux. On February 4, he ran 3rd after his Derby competitors Irish War Cry and Gunnevera, but it was discovered post-race that Classic Empire had a foot abscess, so his loss may have been a fluke.
He does come well-connected. His father is Pioneer of the Nile, who finished 2nd in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, and his big brother is American Pharoah, who ended the 37-year Triple Crown drought by winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont in 2015. Classic has run six previous races and won them all except his one 3rd-place finish, so I can see why hopes are high for him. But you know me. I never look a gift horse in the mouth. Classic last ran on April 15, so he may be a little tired.
Another big human favorite is Irish War Cry (odds 6-1, pp 17). He’s a son of Curlin, who was named Horse of the Year in 2007 AND 2007 (much to Big Brown’s disgust). His jockey is Rajiv Maragh, and he’s won two of his three previous races, but lost by 21 lengths to Gunnevera in the only race he ever blew.
Now, on to MY favorites. I’m not too picky about the order they cross the finish line, but I want their dust to be what the other 17 eat…
Tapwrit (odds 20-1, pp 16) I like just because. He’s trained by Todd Pletcher and won the Tampa Bay Derby on March 11. But he ran 5th in his most recent race on April 8. His jockey is Jose Ortiz. His father is Tapit, who ran 9th in the 2004 Kentucky Derby. I know this pick seems totally wacko, but just trust me. I have a feeling.
Gunnevera (odds 15-1, pp 10), who already has a history of messing with many of his Derby competitors, is another one I’m watching. He’s run 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in four of his five previous races, winning most recently on March 4. His jockey is Javier Castellano.
And my solid favorite is Patch (odds 30-1, pp 20) because he’s the serious underdog. Another Pletcher horse, Patch injured and lost his left eye in a mysterious stable accident he’s never explained. He’s running on the far outside, so all the other horses will be on his blind side. Will that give him greater concentration, or will he bump into somebody as his jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, tries to maneuver him closer to the rail?
Patch’s father is Union Rags, winner of the 2012 Belmont Stakes. Patch has won only one race in his previous three, but came in a close 2nd April 1 at the Louisiana Derby, so there’s hope.
The Kentucky Derby is always the most exciting race of the Triple Crown because ANY horse has a shot at glory, so my tail is fluffed with anticipation. As always, we at Cats Working wish all the horses to be healthy and happy on race day and cross the finish line safely.
As journalists make the pieces fall into place around Donald Trump on his Russian connection, he’s seeing war as the quickest way to relieve the heat.
First he toyed with Syria after displaying faux outrage over Bashar al-Assad gassing his own people. But Putin was watching and Trump wimped out, inflicting negligible damage on a Syrian airfield.
But these gratuitous attacks didn’t quite do it for Trump. Syria and Afghanistan have been battlegrounds for years, so they feel like old news. Trump needed a fresh conflict, one he could call his own and take credit for instigating.
Enter North Korea, which hasn’t been invaded since the Truman administration. Trump and its leader, Kim Jong Un, are perfectly matched, sharing an utter lack of empathy for human suffering and an insatiable craving for glory. Together, they have the capability to slaughter entire populations.
Trump seems to be drooling for Kim to do something that justifies attacking him. Like a lunatic, Trump baits Kim by alluding to “major, major conflict” just to goad him on.
But why?
For starters, it will make us forget about Trump’s tax returns. If he’s really under perennial audit, as he claims, the IRS must be finding things — probably corrupt business practices and conflicts of interest that now poison his presidency.
The other thing keeping him up nights is Putin. Increasingly, it appears that Putin pegged Trump as someone easily manipulated with either a carrot or a stick. When flattery doesn’t work, Putin can dip into the dirt he collected while Trump was in Moscow to get him impeached. At the very least, Putin can probably sink Trump’s current marriage.
It’s the only reasonable explanation for candidate Trump to suddenly embrace men he’d never met before who we now know are Russian tools — Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and Michael Flynn. Putin placed them close to Trump to steer Trump until, one by one, they got themselves outed.
As proof that the Russian scandal goes deep, Republicans heading the investigations, Jason Chaffetz in the House and Richard Burr in the Senate, have made an art of inaction. Out of the gate, they must be finding facts that freeze them in their tracks, starting with Michael Flynn the double agent.
Apparently, no Republican wants to be the one who takes down Trump and the party that enabled him. But the truth will eventually come out. Trump and his cronies intended to weaken our government and feed Vladmir Putin’s dream of world domination for their own personal gain. It amounts to nothing less than treason.
So, as Trump watches his henchmen fall, with each one bringing Trump’s own greedy, irrational motives closer to exposure, what else can a floundering president do but start a war?
Posted by catsworking 
