From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Friday Margaret and Helen Blogging
The intertubes’ feistiest 80-somethings have a thing or two to say about last night’s Republican debate, and some advice for our team:
Can someone please tell me when exactly does the Republican Party have to finally take responsibility for unleashing these lunatics on the American people? I mean they gave us Sarah Palin and now this?
After years of pandering to uneducated, racist, gun-loving, women hating, born again and again and again asshats, the Republican Party is finally reaping their reward---Donald Trump. And they don’t seem very happy with their harvest. [...]
Watching the debate I actually found myself agreeing with Donald on a few things. Rubio is a fool and Cruz is a liar. The problem is… Donald Trump is an asshole. And that was the Republican debate in a nutshell---an asshole standing between a fool and a liar. [...]
Listen. I think the right choice is Hillary. Some of you think it’s Bernie. Can we all at least agree that when the time comes we’ll get ourselves, our family members and our friends off our asses and out to the polls to vote for the Democratic nominee regardless of who it is? Because there are three words in the English language that we can never, ever allow to be spoken: President Donald Trump. I mean it. Really.
Read the whole thing here. And if it’s any help, mark me down for a YES.
Your west coast-friendly edition of Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Friday, February 26, 2016
Note: Just a heads-up that there will be no C&J on Monday because we suffer from Februarytwentynineophobia, an irrational fear of leap days. We’ll emerge from our survival bunker on Super Tuesday with a fresh column and a belly full of survival Spam---unless my fear of leap days turns out to be totally rational and I discover I’m the only survivor, in which case fuck this column I'm going to Disney World!
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By the Numbers:
Weeks 'til the start of the Memorial Day weekend: 12
Days 'til the start of the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering: 6
Percent of Americans who are siding with Apple over the FBI, versus 35% who are siding with the FBI over Apple according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll: 46%
Percent of Trump supporters who believe President Lincoln was wrong to free the slaves, according to a You.gov poll: 20%
Tentative trial date for Ammon Bundy and his cohorts who tried to secede from the Union by taking over that federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, according to court papers: 4/19/16
Consecutive weeks that first-time unemployment claims have been under the 300,000 level, a sign of a strong labor market according to the Labor Department: 51
Percent chance that Buzz Aldrin was the first man to pee on the moon: 100%
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Puppy Pic of the Day:
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CHEERS to the new Mexican national motto. Or at least it should be the new Mexican national motto at least until Donald Trump loses massively to Hillary or Bernie this November. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox delivered a message to Trump and his cult followers, via an interview yesterday for Fusion: "I'm not going to pay for that fucking wall." Watch:
(And don’t forget to put that new motto where it belongs most, Mexico: on all your currency.)
JEERS to the worst fake pediatrician in the world. Over in Indonesia, the mayor of Tangerang (pop. 2 million), Arief Wismansyah, says that canned milk and instant noodles can turn babies gay. And in other news, people with functioning brains say that ignorance and a case of Bintang beer can turn the mayor of Tangerang into an asshole.
CHEERS to green-lighting the gals. On tomorrow's date in, 1922, the all-male U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. Shortly after, the justices' wives released them from their chokeholds.
JEERS to the new ABCs: Always Bullets in the Classroom. That's the new lesson Texas college professors are going to have to learn between now and August, when an insane new open-carry law goes into effect, and…
…allowing people to carry guns on state college campuses is already putting a big chill on fiery academic debate. The law does not go into effect until Aug. 1, but professors at the University of Houston have started preparing guidelines for dealing with gun-toting students that include warning faculty to steer clear of "sensitive topics" and dropping hot button issues from their curricula, according to a UH Faculty Senate.
The proposed guidelines also advise faculty to not "'go there' if you sense anger" and "limit student access off hours." "Only meet 'that student' in controlled circumstances," the guidelines state. "It's not official policy," Faculty Senate President Jonathan Snow told NBC News on Wednesday. "The faculty is waking up now and saying, 'Oh my. Come August I will be teaching classes with students who could be carrying guns."
Wow. I have to say, I never thought I'd see the day when "fisherman" got knocked off the top of the Most dangerous Jobs list to make room for "Texas college professor." Nope. Did not see that coming.
P.S. On this date in 1903, the inventor of the rapid-fire Gatling gun, Richard Gatling, died. His last words: "Of course it's not loaded. Would I be sitting here cleaning my gun if it was lo…”
JEERS to rebranding fail. Check out the lowlights from last night’s Republican debate, in which the participants were---to use GOP chair Reince Priebus’s words---”the most diverse and well-qualified group of presidential candidates in history.” Yuh huh...
Moments after the debate ended the GOP unveiled their new slogan: “A sucker-punch in every groin and a knife fight in every dark alley.”
JEERS to jumping on the birther bandwagon. A reminder of how even "respectable" media outlets played the "he's not like the rest of us" card with our current president back when he was still slogging away on the campaign trail. This was an actual CNN online poll question that was posted eight years ago this week as the Democratic primary season kicked into high gear:
I think it's time for a new question, now that he's into the last full year of his two-term presidency: "Does Barack Obama show the proper patriotism for someone who plans to be a former president of the United States? Get on it, CNN. Because if he's not, I say he should stay right where he is where we can keep a close eye on him.
CHEERS to home vegetation. Here are some of the TV-watchin' goodies on the weekend schedule. Things get started tonight as Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow dissect the GOP debate meltdown and the latest on Hillary's and Bernie's smooth-running campaign statuses. On HBO's Real Time tonight, Bill Maher talks with Mark Ruffalo, Gen. Michael Hayden, Fran Lebowitz, Michael Eric Dyson and Joanna Coles. New DVD/streaming releases include the must-see Spotlight and Pixar's The Good Dinosaur. The hockey schedule is here and the NBA schedule is here. Chris Rock hosts the Oscars Sunday night, and the Academy is ready and waiting to hear what kind of blistering---and completely justified---comedic assault he makes on the culture of Whiteywood that resulted (again) in zero acting awards for people of color. (I plan to stick around long enough to see Sylvester Stallone win his first Oscar for Creed, but I have no need to stay up until 1am to see the inevitable best picture winner, Beverly Hills Chihuahua VII: The Squeaky Toy Awakens.) And John Oliver sends us off to bed Sunday night after another award-winning episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight.
Now here's your Sunday morning lineup. Please hold your applause until Sarah Palin becomes our nation's new Secretary of Energy:
This Week: Bernie!!! Plus Sen. Ted Cruz, who appears to be the Sunday media’s darling of choice this week.
Meet the Press: Sen. Ted Cruz. The roundtable includes RedState’s Erick Erickson (Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards is “America’s own version of Joseph Mengele”) and Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg. You’ve been warned.
Face the Nation: Oh surprise surprise surprise, it’s Sen. Ted Cruz; Donald Trump; David Axelrod; new battleground state polls; and Bernie!!!
CNN's State of the Union: Sen. Ted [yawn] Cruz; Gov. John Kasich; Donald Trump’s new BFF Gov. Chris Christie. No Democrats, because that would be silly.
Fox GOP Talking Points Sunday: Sen. Ted Cruz; Donald Trump.
Happy viewing!
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Ten years ago in C&J: February 26, 2006
JEERS to bait-and-switch games. David Broder---who runs hot and cold with C&J---reveals a budget gimmick the Bush administration is using to lie about the true cost of making their disastrous tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. It's a bit complicated, so we'll sum it up: they're trying to hide one trillion dollars. But if you or I miss a few bucks on our form 1040 they'll string us up by our thumbs. It's good to be the King.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to one tough, soft-hearted cookie. Thought I'd wrap up the week with one more visit with Virginia McLaurin, the 106-year-old D.C. resident and Senior Corps volunteer at Roots Public Charter School. The video of her dancing with the Obamas has racked up over 62 million views on Facebook and melted all but the most cynical hearts. Here she is in an interview after that meeting, filing us in on her life story in less than 60 seconds:
If only our politicians could be that succinct.
Have a great weekend. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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