I think that after a day like today, what we need is an Adorable Animal Video from the fine folks at The Dodo.  This one is about goats.

I love videos from the fine folks at The Dodo.  This one is about a dog who had a rough past, is scared because of it and shy, then gets a new owner and immediately falls for her.  And no, it is not a metaphor for getting past 2020 and greeting 2021. 

I don't exactly know why I love this video, another gem from the fine folks at The Dodo.  But I find it utterly endearing because of the story it tells and the reality of this adorable groundhog that's just a total joy.  In part, perhaps because it's not a pet at all, but a wild animal...who just is in love with this family, in particular the woman of the house.

I'm a little frazzled, so we're going to go with this.  I've had it on hold for a while, and so much else the past few weeks have taken precedence.  And this seems just right for today.

​For some reason, it keeps repeating.  But that's okay, it's very short.  And you'll probably want to see it again, anyway...

So, yesterday, I came across this brief video of Trump.  And yes, I know there were a lot to choose from.  Indeed, yes, I know that every day there are a lot to choose from.  Like, for instance, I came close to using him slam the granddaughter of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg by suggesting that she might have been lying about the dying message she said her grandmother wanted to be quoted for.  Never mind that renowned NPR court reporter Nina Totenberg had earlier followed up on the quote to learn that others in room at the time (including Justice Ginsberg's doctor) confirmed what was said -- something Ms. Totenberg did at the time as a good reporter checking on a story, not because of Trump's idiot comment suggesting that maybe Adam Schiff or some other Democrats said it.  But as offensive as that was about a granddaughter who'd just lost a grandmother, it was just Trump being cold, heartless Trump and got plenty of attention on its own.

Or the video clip of Trump saying about the coronavirus that "It affects virtually nobody," that it really only affects the elderly (who aren't "nobody," and he himself fits into the "elderly" group, and we not only know it's not true, but we know from Bob Woodward's recording that Trump himself says he knows it's not true.).  And of course, we all know that the coronavirus has now killed over 204,000 Americans -- so far. But this is just too insane to waste too much time on.  Not that it's just dismissed for being normal Trump, but dismissed for being too infantile to spend adult time on it playing his game. 

Instead, this one caught my attention because at first it seemed like one of those tweet where the person posting it, in this case Aaron Rupar, paraphrased an idiot comment by Trump to translate into English in order to bring out its full stupidity in a way that was even more clear.  But then when I watch the clip, it turned out that, no, the quote was actually what Trump said, word for word.

(You can a bonus.  The tweet with the clip was linked to a clip of Trump defending his earlier comment ridiculing the granddaughter.  That's the one on top.  The main clip in question, about the poisoning of Russian dissident leader Alexey Nalvany is below.

What I would have loved is a follow-up question --

"Sir, could you let us know generally when that "another time" would be?  Because Mr. Navalny was poisoned a month ago which should be plenty of time for you to have figured out an answer."

For me, this quote stood out because it encapsulated the Trump time in office.  His refusal to criticize Vladmir Putin or Russia about anything, including the poisoning of a political opponent, which is about as fascist a thing as one could imagine, even if you were taking a test of fascism and it was open book so that could copy down anything that you thought was pure fascist.  And then, Trump just pushed it off with a mumbled "We'll talk about it later" and of course never will, though hopefully he'll be asked about it again.  And again.  And again and again.  The only surprising thing in the quote is that he didn't use his standard "in two weeks."

​I have a lot more to say about that, but instead of being "outraged," (tm), I think I'm just going to embed a joyful video of a zookeeper in China trying her best to deal with a group of pandas.  

I get a big kick out of this video on its own -- but the comment posted with it puts the whole thing in a particularly fun perspective.

We haven't had a video from the wonderful folks at The Dodo for a while, so let's rectify that.  There's nothing especially dramatically notable about this one, but it's just so sweet and fits the definition perfectly.

My one quibble.  Regardless of what the description says, I think this is about a dog doing everything it can to show a cat how much it likes it and just wants to play, until the cat finally gets it.
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The video is amusing, but it's the text in the tweet setting it up that, to me, is what makes this a hoot.
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Today, we offer a "Shelter-at-home" edition, especially for those who have temporarily had to moved their office to their their home.
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This is, of course, not even the closest to the "greatest of all tweets," but it sure is a lot of fun.

As someone commenting on it wrote, "At first I thought the dog was being mean, but then I realized he just wanted to make sure they got a good family portrait."​