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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Think those C&J polls just sink into the big blog bog and are never seen again? Ha! In your dreams! We've gone back 4 months to cherry-pick some of the more interesting and/or nostalgic results from C&J readers. It's like looking at a mirror into your soul. And boy is it dusty in here.
Among the Cheers and Jeers community...
45% prefer cats. 38% prefer dogs (May 11)
54% like or love Kerry's new campaign slogan, "Let America Be America Again." (May 21)
83% think Kerry will win the election (May 27)
55% think the hoopla over Reagan's death will have no effect on Bush's poll numbers (June 7)
Favorite Ray Charles song: `Georgia on My Mind.' (June 11)
Favorite liberal columnists: Paul Krugman and Molly Ivins (June 16)
89% don't believe the right can make a documentary as popular as `Fahrenheit 9/11' (July 23)
99% think Kerry `made the sale' at the Democratic convention (July 30)
58% believe the SBVFT ads will backfire and help Kerry (August 9)
Favorite Hitchcock movies: `Rear Window' and `North By Northwest' (August 13)
50% visit between 1-4 blogs besides Kos (August 18)
26% are agnostic. 22% are atheist. 16% are moderate Protestants (August 23)
56% don't have kids. 32% have between 1-2 kids (August 27)
79% think Kerry isn't fighting Bush aggressively enough (August 31)
We bow to your unerring wisdom and taste.
Cheers and Jeers starts in the Extended Copy section... [Swooosh!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, September 8, 2004
By the Numbers:
Days `til the First Debate: 22
Days 'til General Election: 55
Married women who plan to vote for Kerry: 41%
Single women who plan to vote for Kerry: 60%
(Source: USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll)
http://www.electoral-vote.com/ : Kerry 264 Bush 222
CHEERS to Rasmussen. The polling outfit has Bush and Kerry tied at 47 each. The shortest incumbent bounce on record? Um...yupper: http://www.emergingdemocraticmajorityweblog.com/donkeyrising/archives/000641.php. C&J goes out on a limb to say: we've got a good feeling about September.
JEERS to #1000. No parade. No happy homecoming. Just a flag-draped pine box and a free ride home on a cargo plane for the 1,000th American soldier to die in Iraq. Bush says the killers must be brought to justice. "Now, watch this drive."
CHEERS to George W. Bush. Boston Globe exposé shows he didn't fulfill his obligations in the National Guard: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2004/09/08/bush_fell_short_on_duty_at_gu
ard/. But...he went about not fulfilling it with unwavering resolve and decisiveness. "Four more years!"
JEERS to business as usual. Congress reconvenes, and what is the most pressing concern in the House? The deficit? The 1,000th death in Iraq? Global warming? No, silly...gay marriage! http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/09/090704congReturn.htm. And we thought they might disappoint us.
CHEERS to counting your blessings. Frances was a puppy dog compared to the Galveston hurricane of 1900--104 years ago today. 23-foot waves and winds up to 135 mph combined to kill 6,000 people. Somehow we suspect that doesn't provide much comfort to you Floridians without roofs.
JEERS to terrorism. As in, Dick Cheney terrorizing Americans with lines like, "...if [voters] make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating." http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-07-cheney-terror_x.htm. You mean like that little attack that happened on your watch a few years back, Chicken Little?
JEERS to overreacting. A Massachusetts high school teacher was disciplined for showing students Abu Ghraib prison photos in a class called "Current Events," even though the kids were offered an alternate assignment if they didn't want to view the images. Superiors bowed to parents who lambasted the teacher for showing photos that portrayed America negatively. What a crazy liberal state.
CHEERS to "Cheers!" Digby sparks an interesting question: Whose Beer Is It, Anyway? (Hint: the leader of the free world's?) http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2004_09_05_digbysblog_archive.html#109453327707193508. No doubt he's just showing off his power to resist the devil's brew.
JEERS to the pardon of the century. On this date in 1974, President Ford granted an unconditional pardon to Richard "I am not a crook except Monday through Sunday from 6am 'til midnight" Nixon. C&J acknowledges it was probably necessary medicine for a fractured nation. But seeing Tricky Dick behind bars would've been mighty therapeutic.
CHEERS to Jimmy Carter. Zell Miller gets spit-balled by #39: "Everyone knows that you were chosen to speak at the Republican Convention because of your being a `Democrat,' and it's quite possible that your rabid and mean-spirited speech damaged our party and paid the Republicans some transient dividends." http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_09_05.php#003438. Hell hath no fury like a Nobel Peace Prize-winner scorned.
CHEERS to sticky situations. On September 8, 1930, Richard Drew created Scotch tape. Here are just a few of the weirder uses for it: http://www.3m.com/about3m/student/scotchbrand1/strange.html. To which you can add: John Ashcroft's favorite civil liberties editing tool.
HUZZAH to Maine's #1 hero. Happy 176th birthday to General Joshua Chamberlain. He held Little Round Top against overwhelming odds during the battle of Gettysburg, helping save the North from the South. Pay your respects here: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2034&pt=Joshua%20Chamberlain. Bonus CHEERS to Jeff Daniels' credible portrayal of Chamberlain...the best thing about the otherwise awful Ted Turner movie, `Gettysburg.'
CHEERS to Trekkies. On September 8, 1966 the first episode of "Star Trek" aired on NBC. It was regularly beaten in its time slot, and it placed #52 among all series in 1966-1967, its best season. And then it quietly faded out and remains a minor footnote today.
JEERS to missing your period. A road sign touted the "Miss Vietnam Memorial." Curious motorists wondered who Miss Vietnam was, and why she merited her own memorial. The transportation department then drove out and added a period after Miss. Picky, picky, picky.
CHEERS to the space race. 60 prominent scientists from around the world voted for the best science fiction flicks of all time. Their ranking appears below in our C&J poll. Are they right? Set phasers on stun and vote.
Floor's open. What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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