From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Energize An Ally Tuesday
On the eve of the House impeachment hearings, we know two things about GOP Senator (and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee) Lindsey Graham of South Carolina: he won’t watch or read transcripts of any of the testimony because he thinks they’re “B.S.”, and he believes the hearings are a waste of time because Trump is too stupid, incompetent, and incoherent to be impeached, presumably because of some invisible “moron clause” in the Constitution only Leningrad Lindsey can see with his x-ray vision.
What a far cry from the day in 2015 when he pleaded with the American people: “If you want to make America great again, tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Since Lindsey is all smitten by the gold palaces and golf courses and yummy chocolate cake served up by his new adopted daddy, and will say and do anything to please his fake-tanned overlord, South Carolina needs to step up and elect a new senator next year who will actually do what Graham no longer does: his damn job. This video by Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison is getting a lot of thumbs-ups because it speaks to that:
I know Lindsey will be tough to beat, but he’s lost his moral compass so completely that, to quote the classic line in Wargames: “I’d piss on a spark plug if I thought it’d do any good.” So, for the good of his likely challenger and my sanity, I’m sending a few bucks to the Harrison campaign. If you feel so inclined, you can go to his ActBlue page here.
Follow Jaime on twitter here, YouTube here, and on the evil Facebook here.
To borrow a phrase from wise old sage Lindsey Graham: if you want to make South Carolina great again, tell Lindsey Graham to go to hell.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Note: Congratulations, Daily Kos! You've gone 15 consecutive weeks without a blog-related accident. But that last one...yeesh. There were pixels everywhere.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the start of National Fruit Cake Month: 19
Days 'til the Maine Harvest Festival in Bangor, presented by Maine Potatoes: 11
Percent of veterans who believe the military prepared them "well" and "not well," respectively, for the transition to civilian life, according to Pew Research: 52%, 45%
Rank of Arizona's Mark Kelly and Maine's Sara Gideon among Democratic senate contenders who have raised the most money thus far: #1, #2
Portion of Americans who default on their student loans within 5 years, according to CBS News: 1-in-4
Estimated total number of calories ingested by Americans on Thanksgiving: 8.1 billion
Height of the Norway spruce installed Saturday at Rockefeller Center: 77 feet
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Puppy: Reminder to get your 2020 wall calendar…
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CHEERS to anticipa-yay-yay-tion. Pardon me for a moment while I go over my checklist of essentials for watching tomorrow's live impeachment hearings: Popcorn? Check. Six-pack of Schlitz (in honor of what my mom drank during the Watergate hearings)? Check. Fluffy pillows? Check. Vuvuzela? Thnoooooork!!! Reporter's notebook and three freshly-sharpened pencils? Check, check, and check. Male strippers? Check. Excellent, we're all set.
Now all I need is a member of Congress to properly set the stage for what's at stake tomorrow, and here to do that is Rep. and former Navy Commander Elaine Luria (D-VA) who, in two minutes and 20 seconds, makes the Republican hacks defending the most corrupt president in history look very small, very dumb, and very unserious:
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The hearings start tomorrow at 10am EST with Bill Taylor, former ambassador and top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent. Democrats on the committee will come armed with seasoned staff attorneys and pointed questions. Republicans on the committee will come armed with shiny objects and air horns.
JEERS to disorder in the court. Given the mad cow disease that continues to infect the five conservatives on the Supreme Court, I don’t hold out much optimism that this is going to lead where the sane among us want this to go. Vox's Ian Millhiser explains:
The Supreme Court will hear arguments [today] on a trio of cases asking whether the Trump administration acted properly when it decided to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—an Obama-era program that allows unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the US as children to live and work in the United States. […]
Certainly the human stakes in these cases—Trump v. NAACP, McAleenan v. Vidal,and Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California—are enormous.
Almost 670,000 immigrants are protected by DACA. Ending the program opens them up to deportation. Families could be ripped apart; communities will be devastated. There really is a significant human toll here.
Pretty much the only question is whether DACA will be temporarily dismantled until the next Democratic president comes along to revive it, or whether Roberts and his wrecking crew will kill it outright and leave it to Congress to codify into law. Either way, that splorping sound you'll hear between now and the day they issue their decision is ICE lickin' its chops.
CHEERS to famous firsts. On November 12, 1964, Ohio-born Paula Murphy set a female land speed record while behind the wheel of the 10,000 horsepower "Avenger." Her top speed as she tore across a Utah salt flat (with a pillow behind her so she could reach the pedals): 243.44 mph.
And to answer your question: yes, she got the parking space.
CHEERS to a slight sweetening of the sour grapes. In the wake of the governor's election in Kentucky, which Democrat Andy Beshear won by 5,000+ votes, Republicans immediately started toying with the idea of being the sorest losers in history by threatening to steal the election using an arcane rule in the legislature—last deployed in 1899—that lets 'em do it without any justification whatsoever. Sensing a backlash that could haunt their dreams in 2020, they appear to be backing off that idea. Via the Daily Kos Elections Team:
In a brief interview, [Kentucky Senate president Robert] Stivers said that if Thursday's recanvass of last week's election doesn't materially change the results, which show Democrat Andy Beshear leading by 5,189 votes, it would be time for GOP Gov. Matt] Bevin "to call it quits and go home."
While Beshear and official Democratic Party organizations had stayed mostly quiet, Stivers' climb-down came after ordinary Kentuckians, some Democrats in the legislature, and progressive groups raised a massive outcry over the possibility the GOP would so brazenly seek to subvert democracy. Even Stivers himself acknowledged that he'd "received numerous angry calls and messages from people accusing him of somehow trying to steal the election."
Also believed to be a factor for Stivers apparent change of heart: sobering up and realizing he was actually defending Matt Freaking Bevin.
CHEERS to another rat fleeing the good ship Trumpipop. Congressman Peter King, the gruff, bullheaded Republican from New York, has had enough and won’t be running for reelection next year. Already the political and pundit classes are falling all over themselves to applaud the "moderate" while ignoring this kind of trash that came from his big mouth:
King last year defended ICE in the wake of the deaths of two migrant children. He also likened NFL athletes quietly protesting police violence and killing of Black people to giving a Nazi salute.
And he declared there are “too many mosques” in America.
The Congressman from Long Island defended NYPD officers in the killing of Eric Garner, saying if the man who was placed in a chokehold (which violates police policy) had not been “obese,” he would not have died—while at the same time saying “police had no reason to know that he was in serious condition.”
He also claims that there's "not a hint of racist" in Donald Trump. King will leave behind 28 years of service in Congress…and a helluva stench.
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Ten years ago in C&J: November 12, 2009
JEERS to words of doom. Oh, I'm so sorry, Native Americans. Honorary Chief-in-Chief Barack Obama met with your leaders last week and promised he would be a fierce advocate for your rights. As a gay person who was told the same thing, let me just say: while you're waiting for change, you might want to take up a hobby. Like continental-drift watching.
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And just one more…
JEERS to partly sunny skies with a chance of flying blubber. Ever wonder why no one blows up dead whales anymore? Great question! On November 12,1970, the Oregon Highway Division, which apparently controls what goes on down at the shoreline too, thought they could get rid of a rotting beached whale by "vaporizing it" with dynamite and turning it into bite-size snacks for the local blubber-eating wildlife. But it didn’t quite turn out that way. Behold our annual play-by-play of the "exploding whale incident," which features some of the most hilarious news copy I’ve ever heard outside of a sitcom, delivered to perfection by reporter Paul Linnman, who I understand is still on the job at the same TV station:
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Join us next week when we'll explain why they don’t do turkey drops anymore, either.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. And get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow an impeachin’ we shall go. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
They're here. They splash in the Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool. And they say they'll vote you out of office if you come for their "unicorn poop" flavored candy corn.
—NBC News
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