From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Happy Birthday, White-Haired Dollar-throwing Tree-chopping(?) Walking-Poligrip-Commercial Dude!
Make sure you say "Happieth Birthdayeth" to George Washington today---he's 279, which is 44 years older than our flowering Oligarchy now known as the United Koch Brothers of America. From the day he took office, Washington knew that corruption and special interests would be a fact of life in the halls of power. (Today Republicans would probably try and impeach him for the cherry tree episode---whether it was true or not.) And here's a news flash for obstructionist Republicans: President Obama is simply following in the footsteps of the Father of our Country:
As president, he was particularly sensitive to the diverse interests of the new country and fervent in his efforts to prevent its fragmentation. ... He promoted roads, canals, the post office---anything and everything that would bind the different states and regions together. ... Never taking the unity of the country for granted, he remained preoccupied throughout his presidency with creating the sinews of nationhood.
---From To the Best of My Ability, edited by James McPherson
Y'know who else talked about unity and built roads and post offices? Hitler. So thank god the lamestream media was on the case to call him out on his caliphatic socialist agenda:
[H]is critics believed he wanted to become another "King George." ... The Philadelphia Aurora, one of the major opposition papers, in 1796 editorialized: "If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington. If ever a nation was deceived by a man, the American nation has been deceived by Washington."
---From Rating the Presidents by William Ridings, Jr. and Stuart McIver
I'm guessing that was written by an ancestor of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Dick Armey or the Cheney clan. But which one, Spock? Which…one???
But I'll say this: he knew how to handle his cabinet…
"Jefferson, you're on the two. Hamilton? You get the ten. I'm calling dibs on the one. That's all me, baby. What's that, Adams? You wanted the one? All right, that's it: You don't get to be on anything. That's right. I'm taking back the quarter. Anyone else want to complain? I didn't think so."
---Washington, 1789, as quoted in Jon Stewart's America: The Book
Shine up yer shoe buckles and pay your respects to "#1" here. He did okay. He surely did.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Note: Pardon me for doing this, but I want to increase traffic via Google searches. Here goes: Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Porn. Yeah, that should do it.
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By the Numbers:
Days `til the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery: 2
Days 'til Mardi Gras: 14
Years, respectively, that traditional 100 watt, 75 watt, and 40-60 watt light bulbs will be phased out: 2012, 2013, 2014
Percent of Americans who use the energy-saving curly-Q bulbs now, and percent of them who say they're satisfied with them: 71%, 84%
(Source: USA Today/Gallup poll)
Pounds of Maine lobster caught in 2010, a record worth $308 million: 93.4 million
Average per-pound price lobstermen are getting now, up 14 percent from 2009: $3.31
(Dept. of Marine Resources via The Portland Press Herald)
Years it had been since a painter or sculptor won a Presidential Medal of Freedom, before Jasper Johns received his last week: 34
(Source: Time)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
You’ve got to be kidding me! Look at their role model, Soviet Union history - personal “hunting” estates, lifetime security cleared part-time prostitutes - part-time secret police agents, personal airplanes rivaling AirForce One, etc., etc. That takes a whole lot of money, what do you think? Don’t believe me? Look at Pelosi, they are not quite there yet but she did it full steam ahead at taxpayers (sorry, now communist state) expense.
---Commenter theVoid at RedState
All together now: One…two…three… Classy!!!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Guess who found a new home? Seriously…Guess!
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CHEERS to getting rave reviews. The standoff in Wisconsin continues, and Josh Marshall at TPM seems to think Governor Walker's hand is getting weaker, not stronger as time goes on. (For his next act he'll go on live TV and lie to the public this evening.) As for the protesters, who braved the biting cold yesterday to turn out---again---by the thousands, they've gotten an A+ for civility from the City of Madison:
On behalf of all the law enforcement agencies that helped keep the peace on the Capitol Square Saturday, a very sincere thank you to all of those who showed up to exercise their First Amendment rights. You conducted yourselves with great decorum and civility, and if the eyes of the nation were upon Wisconsin, then you have shown how democracy can flourish even amongst those who passionately disagree.
Even the tea party protesters, who were outnumbered 30-1, hoisted their angry signs with their pinkies extended. Oh lord, Kum Bah Kinda Sorta Yah!
CHEERS to electing a new Windy City windbag. The big mayoral election is today in Chicago ("…the first time in more than 60 years that a sitting Chicago mayor is not on the ballot"), and if he gets 50 percent of the vote, Rahm! will go straight to the blacksmith to be fitted for a new iron glove. Or, if he's too busy, he can just use the iron glove he wore in the White House. Or the iron glove he wore in Congress. Always good to have a spare.
CHEERS to Edward Moore Kennedy. Teddy was born 79 years ago today and it goes without saying that he is missed on every imaginable level you can think of, including his sense of humor. Pay your respects here. And just for today, if you feel like marking the occasion with some Boston cream pie, it won’t go to your waist.
P.S. An interactive online recreation of his brother's Oval Office desk---now used by President Obama---was unveiled yesterday by Caroline Kennedy in Boston. Ask not what your blotter can do you for you---ask what you can do with JFK's blotter.
CHEERS to the start of the Great Anticlimax. The U.S. Marines fighting in Afghanistan will soon start classes and discussion groups on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. If you believe the right-wing military affairs "experts," there will be a mass exodus as troops realize they might have to share close quarters with---gasp!---openly-gay servicemembers. Fortunately, you don't:
“I haven’t had any indication yet at all, not at all,” Gen. James Amos told reporters when asked if he expected the mass exodus of troops that Sen. John McCain and other critics predicted if the ban was lifted. Amos was visiting troops in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province when President Barack Obama signed the repeal in late December. He said he addressed some 12,000 Marines about the change and “everyone said, ‘Sir, we got it. We’re going to do this thing.‘”
We on the left gave our servicemembers infinitely more credit for maturity than the folks on the other side of the ideological spectrum. It does my heart good to say "Neener Neener" to the Family Research Council and all the retired military mouthpieces who were wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong. And it'll do my heart even better to never let them forget it.
CHEERS to stuff goin' on over there. Just a quick update:
Libya: Unrest
Bahrain: Unrest
Jordan: Unrest
Yemen: Unrest
Iran: Unrest
Djibouti: Unrest
Syria: Unrest?
Tunisia: Stable but resting uncomfortably
Egypt: Stable but resting uncomfortably
Pakistan: Don’t ask
Saudi Arabia: Just a wee bit nervous
Afghanistan: Jealous that the above are sucking up all the attention
Iraq: Fired up! Ready for the rest of the Americans to go!
Our next update in 30 minutes, when everything above could be totally different.
CHEERS to the "Miracle on Ice." Thirty-one years ago today, on February 22, 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team outskated and outwitted the unbeatable Soviet team at Lake Placid, stunning everyone by beating them 4-3. I walked around for months afterward in a t-shirt with a Russian bear getting knocked in the head by a puck and the caption: "Puck You, Russia!" (I'm still kinda surprised my schoolmarms didn’t have a problem with the thinly-veiled F-word.) Most people forget that the early front-runners were actually the Swiss. But it turns out they had too many…2…3…4…holes in their defense. (Nailed it!)
CHEERS to simple explanations to stupid hypotheticals. Sunday on The Chris Matthews Show, the panel's pulse rates were all a'flippity-floo over the prospect of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie running for president in 2012. Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal Constitution made this observation:
"This is not the right time for Chris Christie, because he realizes there is still a "crazy tax" that a Republican nominee has to pay at this point. You have to cozy up to the birthers. You have to coddle Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. You have to deny human causes of climate change. And that's not who Chris Christie is. At some point in his career, as a prosecutor, he supported gun control. If he looks out there and, in fact the Republican field doesn’t excite people, and he feels that average base voters are ready to accept a guy from the east coast who's more moderate, he might get in. But now is not that moment."
"Crazy tax." A catchphrase is born.
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Five years ago in C&J: February 22, 2006
JEERS to violating the golden rule. No, it's not "Do unto others, etc." (how quaint). It's "Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER blow up a holy Islamic shrine. In Samarra---"one of the most violent cities in Iraq"---some idiot forgot the golden rule. And the hornets are swarming:
Shiite protestors took to the streets shortly after the explosion. In Baghdad, militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who is a fervent believer in the prophecy of the Imam Mahdi, drove through the streets of Sadr City with Kalashnikovs, many accusing the Americans of carrying out the attack.
Time to airlift a new crate of Dr. Phil CDs. Put a rush on it, guys.
CHEERS to differences of opinion. Reason #12,354 why the lefty blogs are better than the righty blogs. I've noticed lately that a recommended diary at DailyKos is often followed by a recommended diary exploring the opposite argument. In Rightwingville, it's Shut up and regurgitate the approved talking points. That makes our side of the bloggyworld a democracy and their side a puppet dictatorship. Now go tell everyone you know---exactly as I said it, m'kay?
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And just one more…
CHEERS to things you don’t see every day. In 2009, Maine voters foolishly voted thumbs-down to our gay marriage law…BUT…they wisely gave the OK to medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. Lo and behold, this ad appeared last weekend in The Portland Press Herald:
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
> High-Quality, Organic Marijuana
> State Licensed Dispensary
> Free Delivery
> Open 7 Days Per Week
> NOW ACCEPTING QUALIFIED PATIENTS
Phone number - Web site
The above dispensary is located in Ellsworth, Maine. Their website includes---if I may say in a totally medicinal way---an impressive product list. (I love the description for a strain called Trainwreck: "The name trainwreck come from the fact that when you smoke this weed your face feels like it was hit by a train.") Anyway, it's a little jarring---in a good way---to see marijuana dispensaries opening shop here. Still jarring in a not-so-good way: how voters could approve medical pot but not gay marriage. That's a stumper. Folks musta been smokin' somethin' on election day, is all I can figure.
Have a nice Tuesday. Count your chicken shoes carefully. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"Bill in Portland Maine thinks magically, not logically. Events that are ordinary to us are confusing and scary to him."
---Gina Mireault, Ph.D.
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