From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Setting a Presidential Benchmark
I ran across this column from ten years ago, when Columbia University Professor and respected historian Eric Foner deemed George W. Bush the worst president ever, even before his second term was up. These were among his still-valid reasons for the designation as he compared #43 to his bottom-rung compadres:
At a time of national crisis, Pierce and Buchanan, who served in the eight years preceding the Civil War, and Johnson, who followed it, were simply not up to the job. Stubborn, narrow-minded, unwilling to listen to criticism or to consider alternatives to disastrous mistakes, they surrounded themselves with sycophants and shaped their policies to appeal to retrogressive political forces (in that era, pro-slavery and racist ideologues). […]
Harding and Coolidge are best remembered for the corruption of their years in office (1921-23 and 1923-29, respectively) and for channeling money and favors to big business. They slashed income and corporate taxes and supported employers' campaigns to eliminate unions. Members of their administrations received kickbacks and bribes from lobbyists and businessmen. "Never before, here or anywhere else," declared the Wall Street Journal, "has a government been so completely fused with business." The Journal could hardly have anticipated the even worse cronyism, corruption and pro-business bias of the Bush administration.
Despite some notable accomplishments in domestic and foreign policy, Nixon is mostly associated today with disdain for the Constitution and abuse of presidential power. … Nixon considered himself above the law. Bush has taken this disdain for law even further.
Trump hasn't even taken office yet and his list of offenses---inciting hatred of minorities, poking nuclear nations with a stick, declaring himself above the law, filling his cabinet with conspiracy theory peddlers and Wall Street barons---is already as long as his knee-length neckties. Professor Foner, still observing and commenting on history ten years later, is gonna have his hands full documenting the horribleness of #45. I hope he’s got a decently-stocked liquor cabinet.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Note: The Department of Homeland Security reminds you that if you see something, say something. But not "waffle iron" because I already said that. ---Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til 2017: 25
Days 'til the Lawnmower Parade and Holiday Festival in Havana, Florida: 3
Hillary Clinton's popular vote lead over Donald Trump: 2.65
Percentage-wise: Clinton 48.2% Trump 46.2%
Amount of parental leave Ikea will now offer employees (moms and dads) who have been with the company for 1 year and 3 years, respectively, under its new expansion of the benefit: 12 weeks, 16 weeks
NJ Gov. Chris Christie approval rating, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll: 18%
Percent of New Jersey residents who think he should have been charged for Bridgegate: 71%
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Mid-week Rapture Index:
185 (including 4 tribulation temples and 1 newly-listed demon-possessed house). Soul Protection Factor 8 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Fred's journey…
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CHEERS to America the Resilient. Today marks the 75th anniversary of the “day that will live in infamy”---the surprise Japanese air attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor that killed 2,403. As a nation, we snapped out of it in the blink of an eye and it was all downhill for Yamamoto and Tojo after that. The number of veterans who were there on Dec. 7, 1941 is fast dwindling, but some are still making the trek. Like 93-year-old Mainer Robert Coles from Machias, who was stationed on the U.S.S. Bagley:
[O]n Dec. 7, Coles did something that went far beyond his regular duties [as a radioman]---breaking a few rules in the process, he said.
[H]e was finishing his toast on board the Bagley when he saw a group of airplanes headed his way. [...] “And then I noticed stuff falling out of the plane, like sand out of a bucket, and bangers blowing up on Ford Island. Here’s where it gets even weirder. I turn and I run up to the port side to [one of the two] .50-caliber machine guns,” he said. Though he had not been trained to fire it, he had observed gunners while on watch duty. “I took the dog wrench off the bulkhead, broke the padlock on the ammo boxes and I loaded No. 2 .50-caliber machine gun all by myself, and I swear before almighty God that I shot and hit the first two torpedo planes that went by the Bagley.
I’m not claiming to have shot them down, no because I didn’t see them go down,” he said. “And just about then, the chief gunner come running up and says, ‘Coles, I’ll take over.’” [...]
“What I did during the Pearl Harbor attack I wasn’t supposed to do. It wasn’t my job. I wasn’t trained to [fire machine guns],” he said.
More on Coles’ 5,000-mile trip here. He and his fellow survivors would appreciate it if we young'uns would kindly never forget that day or those who were there. Happy to oblige.
JEERS to today's boring correction. [Sigh] Another day, another staged tantrum by an immature billionaire elitist who will soon occupy the position once held by the likes of Washington, Lincoln and the Roosevelt boys. Okay, let's do this: President-elect Donald Trump has canceled an order---via Twitter, of course---for a new Air Force One plane, citing massive cost overruns that have driven the taxpayer price tag to over FOUR…BEEEEELION…DOLLARS. After watching its stock go into the crapper, Boeing responded:
"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States. We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer."
So there. We're sure the president-elect regrets the error. Much the same way that a praying mantis regrets biting off her husband's head while mating.
CHEERS to a climate-change acknowledger of some magnitude. Google. Not only do they have a spiffy search engine and those cool doodles and amazing maps (not to mention employing nearly 60,000 people), but they're also about to flip a middle-finger salute to the deniers:
I’m thrilled to announce that in 2017 Google will reach 100% renewable energy for our global operations---including both our data centers and offices. We were one of the first corporations to create large-scale, long-term contracts to buy renewable energy directly; we signed our first agreement to purchase all the electricity from a 114-megawatt wind farm in Iowa, in 2010. […]
To reach this goal we’ll be directly buying enough wind and solar electricity annually to account for every unit of electricity our operations consume, globally. And we're focusing on creating new energy from renewable sources, so we only buy from projects that are funded by our purchases. […]
The science tells us that tackling climate change is an urgent global priority. We believe the private sector, in partnership with policy leaders, must take bold steps and that we can do so in a way that leads to growth and opportunity. And we have a responsibility to do so---to our users and the environment.
So stick that in your snowball maker and google it, James Inhofe. (No, that makes no sense, but our chief editor Simba said it sounded funny enough to go to print with.)
CHEERS to the last New England “moderate” Republican left standing. Maine Senator Susan Collins---that rare Republican who actually has the ability to look forward every so often (like not voting for Donald Trump)---turns 64 today. In the plus column: supports government-funded medical research and Planned Parenthood, voted to let gay people serve in the military, won’t go along with privatizing Medicare and doesn't want to repeal the ACA unless her party comes up with something---Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!---better. In the negative column: voted for the Iraq war, fanned the flames of the Benghazi bullshit, supported Sam Alito, John Roberts and probably also whichever judicial ogre Trump picks to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court, and is currently in her fourth term after promising voters she’d only serve two. Oh, and she also, of course, rends her garments over the incivility in the Senate, but fails to recognize that her increasingly Nazi-fied party is wholly responsible for the rancor. For her birthday I got her a spa treatment inside a cone of silence. Not sure who will appreciate that more…her or us.
CHEERS to a mechanical life well lived mechanically. In our never-ending quest to find something---anything---"out there" that will save us from ourselves, we sent the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn back 'round about 1492. And it's had good run. Now it's time for its final swan dive into history, but not before several months of dipping up and down through the planet's rings. Interesting tidbit that sounds much like the prime directive in Star Trek:
The maneuvers will culminate in Cassini dumping itself in the atmosphere of the giant planet.
This destructive ending is necessary because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.
Nasa (US space agency), which leads the Cassini mission, needs to make sure that an out-of-control probe cannot at some future date crash into any of Saturn’s moons---in particular, Enceladus and Titan.
There is a chance these moons harbor life, and however remote the possibility---a colliding satellite could introduce contamination from Earth. This must not be allowed to happen.
Yeah, and if there really is life on a Saturn moon it could do something else, too: piss 'em off.
CHEERS to great inventions. The microwave oven, invented by Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer (from the great state of Maine), was patented on this date in 1945. We were going to use this as an opportunity to give a lecture on proper microwave usage and safety, but here in C&J danger is our middle name and it’s too much hassle and paperwork to change it so…
Disclaimer: Our last name is Donttrythisathomeoranywhereelse.
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Ten years ago in C&J: December 7, 2006
JEERS to registering zero on the Suspense-O-Meter. At yesterday's confirmation hearings for defense secretary nominee Robert "We're Losing In Iraq" Gates, the bar was set pretty low: "As long as you're not Don Rumsfeld or a mold-encrusted kumquat---with apologies for the redundancy---you're in (and Mrs. Gates's homemade rum balls didn't hurt, either)." Here's your balance pole, there's the high-wire...get to work.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to sweet sounds. The Grammy nominations were announced yesterday and you can check out the full list here. I always go to the Spoken Word category first, because there's a good chance it'll have a Clinton or an Obama or a Carter on it. Not this year, but it's still a nice bunch…
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo---Amy Schumer
In Such Good Company---Carol Burnett
M Train---Patti Smith
Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History Of L.A. Punk---John Doe With Tom Desavia
Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink---Elvis Costello
Adele and Beyonce each got 150 nominations, and my all-time favorite composer, John Williams, got his 65th nod for the more-brilliant-with-each-passing-day Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens score. Other notables on the Grammy list: David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, 13-year-old jazz pianist Joey Alexander, David Cross, Loretta Lynn (at 84) and Willie Nelson (83). The awards are February 12th. And those kids better keep the noise down or I'm calling the police.
Have a nice Wednesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
“Cheers and Jeers is weak-ass shit that goes perfectly in a kiddie pool, and only a kiddie pool.”
---Buzzfeed
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