From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
We have a Winner!
C&J Tuesday:
CHEERS to the silly season. Congress is back in session today, half of its members still nursing bite marks on their asses from the August town hall astroturfer riots. ... Republicans will follow tradition and draw straws to determine who gets to be the first to say something so crude and outlandish that it causes Keith Olbermann to take the secret "Olbervator" down to his lair to crank out a Special Comment.
And the jerk who drew the short-straw is...Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), for interrupting the president's speech---breaking House rules in the process?---to yell, "YOU LIE!!!" as a way of gently correcting Obama on something he said about illegal immigrants that was true. Politico:
FactCheck.org described those claims as "false" and noted that one version of the legislation already includes an explicit bar on federal funding for illegal immigrants' health care.
As Keith pointed out last night, Wilson is throwing hand grenades in a glass house. It was a mere 15 days ago that the congressman wrote this:
[C]itizens have discovered and brought to light numerous aspects of the health care overhaul (H.R. 3200) that are deeply troubling. These include the end of life counseling program, which has been correctly highlighted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a program which could lead to seniors being encouraged to seek less care in order to protect the government’s bottom line.
Now that's a lie. Palin doesn’t correctly highlight things. Period.
Normally this would be excellent news for John McCain. But in this case, it could very well put Rob Miller---after draining a couple cans of Lysol on it---in Wilson's seat. Send Rob five or ten bucks and share in this joyfully unexpected opening of a can 'o whupass.
Oh, and let's hope this diary comment I read last night by Kossack MikeVA isn’t an isolated incident:
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Thanks Joe---I just converted my dad to D!
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As for Obama: Good speech, I thought. Stirring, clear, concise, tough. A spirited but wiggle-room-leaving (grrr...) pitch for the American Health Freedom Act (as James Wolcott so elegantly rebrands the public option). But that and five bucks'll get you a dollop of whipped cream on your latte at Starbucks. It was, shall we say, a "sliver in the basket" of what he needs to do to get a good bill passed. Let the arm-twisting commence. Hopefully conservative Democrat arms, not progressive ones. (The Republicans politely excused themselves from participating in the history-making process last night and will be off playing golf for the next three months except for when they're swarming the Sunday news shows.)
As always: call your congresscritters and senatecritters. Give 'em an earful. They're lonely and they need to hear your voice.
P.S. If you play "You Lie!" backwards it says "Paul is dead." Freaky, man.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, September 10, 2009
Note: Tomorrow is Kos's birthday. Just so we don’t both get him the same thing: I bought him a new red star pin for his Che beret. (Hey, he says he wants a Revolution...)
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the cast of Seinfeld reunites to play the cast of Seinfeld on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm: 24
Days `til the 35th annual Casey County Apple Festival in Kentucky: 9
Diameter of the "World Largest Apple Pie" at the festival: 10 feet
Number of different apple tree varieties 83 year-old Nick Botner of Yoncella, Oregon has in his "collection": 4,000
(Source: Parade)
Number of Beatles studio albums produced on the Apple label: 4
Number of newly-remastered Beatles albums or box sets in the top 10 at Amazon.com: 9 (Denying them a perfect ten: Susan Boyle)
Percent of the time Republicans compare apples to oranges during arguments: 87%
(Source: You need one?)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment: She Said She Said...
Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination have been neutered by declaring suspects material witnesses against themselves. Yet neither Brandon Mayfield nor Osama Awadallah provided any information that made any of us any safer. Nor did Abdullah al-Kidd, the University of Idaho football star locked up to testify against someone who had overstayed his visa.
---From Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights
9/10/09 Update: Abdullah al-Kidd will get his day in court against John Ashcroft. If convicted, I'll feel really bad...for Ashcroft's cellmate.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Gold star to the Wloch-Rapetti family. All you need is love.
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CHEERS to shock and awe...climate change edition (via Gina Cooper). A group of Veterans and national security organizations---including votevets.org---have banded together to execute a plan called Operation Free. Their stated mission: "secure America with renewable energy." Today they'll be looking for Senators of Mass Distraction in D.C.:
Veterans from across the country are deploying to become the frontline in the fight for an energy policy that protects our national security, the environment, and creates new jobs. On Thursday, September 10th, 150 veterans from 38 states are coming to DC to bring that message to the White House and the United States Senate.
[That includes] Jeff Latas, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. He traveled to DC from Arizona to take part this week's activities because, as Jeff explains "National Security and energy have been linked for decades. And unless we wanted to park our military in the Middle East for decades more we need to start working our way off oil now."
Even better, Operation Free has linked up with several other groups to form one mega-powerful coalition called Clean Energy Works. Together they intend to keep the climate-change legislation fires burning with lots of time, money and human resources. But hopefully no Norwegian wood.
JEERS to Darth Dunce. Dick Cheney didn’t just shoot a lawyer in the face, he also came mighty close to shooting a British terrorist investigation in the foot:
[F]ollowing "one of the most complex and costliest criminal investigations since the Second World War," British police were finally able to convict three men of plotting to blow up a series of transatlantic airplanes in a planned terrorist attack that would have potentially been "three times more deadly than the 9/11 attacks." Today, British intelligence officials are saying that former Vice President Dick Cheney "nearly destroyed" efforts to bring the bomb plotters to justice by ordering the arrest of a suspect before all the evidence was gathered.
Probably as good a time as any for the University of Wyoming to drop their plans to plaster his name on their international students center. But to avoid hurting his feelings, I'm sure there's a trash can somewhere that his picture would look good on. Along with the words: I'm a loser.
CHEERS to dollars for dishwashers. In an effort to get less energy-efficient appliances off the market, the government is planning to unveil a new program similar to Cash for Clunkers. Trade in your old one and get cash back if you buy one that has an Energy Star on it:
According to the U.S. Department of Energy website, last year alone, Americans who purchased Energy Star appliances saved enough energy to power 10 million homes and avoid greenhouse gas emissions from 12 million cars and saving $6 billion. The plan is designed to give a boost to the economy by stimulating sales as well as long term benefits by reducing energy consumption. With cash for clunkers, the purchaser was required to bring the car to the dealer for disposal. Not so for the appliance program which will be in the form of rebate checks.
If you plan to bring in your old appliance, don’t overexert yourself---make sure you can carry that weight!
CHEERS to taking the blindfold off the watchdog. The FDA seems to be springing back to life. Case in point: food companies must now tell the feds, via an online database, within 24 hours if their food contains harmful junk. The first notices were posted late yesterday. Consumers are urged to avoid eating any Wild Honey Pie or "Mean Mister" mustard.
CHEERS to the leader of Arnie's Army. Happy 80th birthday, Arnold Palmer! He won 4 Masters championships, a U.S. Open, and 2 British Opens. But that don't mean squat compared to his greatest achievement: being a shining example of the gentleman competitor. Oh, and this is funny:
1966 [F]or the first time in his life, Palmer’s plane is flown without him or his knowledge---pilot Darrell Brown flies it to Gettysburg to pick up President Dwight Eisenhower for a surprise visit. "I was oblivious to it all," Palmer says, "until I answered the door and found General Eisenhower standing there with an overnight bag. ‘Say, you wouldn’t have room to put up an old man for the night, would you?’ One of the nicest weekends of my life followed. It was the thrill of a lifetime."
And while he's a staunch Republican, he does love him some Murtha. But politics aside, ya gotta admit, when he was in his prime he sure was...something!
JEERS to your liberal media hard at work. Every now and then someone inside Journalismland says something that makes you realize why the cards always seem to be stacked against us. Media Matters summarizes the MO of the traditional media, in this case as originally articulated by ABC's Dan Harris:
So to summarize: ABC News confirms that it will chase any right-wing "fight" even if it's baseless; even if it's "unfounded." In reporting those fights, ABC News will purposefully exclude Democrat voices from the story. And ABC News, while acknowledging a fight is "unfounded," will allow partisan Republicans to blame the White House for the "controversy."
That's so hacktacular I wouldn’t hire Harris to be a cheap paperback writer.
CHEERS to Garrison Keillor. The Lord of Lake Wobegon is in a St. Paul hospital undergoing tests after suffering a mild stroke. He says he plans to be discharged tomorrow and get back to his full schedule. Or, in other words: I feel fine.
JEERS to randy bench-warmers. Eighteen years ago today, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Fulfilling George H.W. Bush's desire to add some diversity to the Court, Thomas went on to become the nation's first member of the high bench to be a certified porn addict. Eight days a week.
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Flashback: A day in the life of C&J--September 10, 2004
CHEERS to thumpin' Bush's Bible-thumpers. They lose again. A third federal judge (this time in Nebraska) rules that `intact dilation and extraction' procedure ban is unconstitutional because it doesn't protect women whose health is in danger. Pro-choice advocates send Judge Richard Kopf a note of thanks, adding: P.S. I love you.
CHEERS to head-knockin' in da Hizzouse. Hey Hey!!! The House of Representatives just gave Bush the finger, blocking new rules that would've stripped overtime pay from millions of hard-working Americans. Everybody twist and shout!
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And just one more...
CHEERS to The New Pootie Chronicles, Part II: Pootie Harder. So we've had our new whiskered critter, Fantom, for almost three weeks now, and the getting-acquainted period is going well. But there have been some adjustments. For instance, she apparently thinks she's Santa Claus. Every night---in the middle of the night---we hear this: "Yowl! Yowl! Ulp! Ulp! Yowwl...!" It gets progressively louder as she drags one of our chocolate lab's dog toys from the dining room to the bedroom door, where she drops it and continues her yowling until we acknowledge the "present." We're hoping one day she'll start hauling in gift cards and cash. Meanwhile, we took her for her first checkup Saturday, and she got a clean bill of health. But there was one small issue: the vet says Fantom's Ph.D. appears to be forged. When we confronted her over it? Of course: no reply.
Hello Goodbye. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"The walrus was Bill in Portland Maine."
---John Lennon
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