From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Chatting with the Boxer-Upper in Charge
Osama Whatsizname is finally gone, and hope is renewed that our departure from the region might come about faster than planned. But, for now, our troops are still fulfilling their day-to-day missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. And as long as they're there, Netroots for the Troops will continue its tradition of sending care packages to hundreds of them from the Netroots Nation convention (in Minneapolis this year, June 16-19).
The grand poobah behind this effort is Tony Gattis, who goes by the nom de Kossack "TexDem" here at Daily Kos. Recently C&J sat Tony down in the giant C&J beanbag chair to talk about this year's event and other stuff:
Cheers and Jeers: How long have you been blogging and what originally brought you to Daily Kos?
Tony Gattis/TexDem: I followed Joe Conason to Salon, and from Salon I went to read Josh Marshall at TPM and followed his link to Daily Kos. I lurked for about four months before I signed up on November 3rd, 2004...the day after the election. I actually got troll-rated for some of my early comments for being of insufficient quality. They even TR'd my snark.
Cads!
Really!
How did the concept for Netroots for the Troops come about?
I blame it on Kossack llbear. It started out as a way to support a Kossack sending care packages and writing about them. Bear thought I could get more attention for them via the Mojo Friday diaries and my extensive email list at that time. One thing led to another and the Austin convention happened under the great leadership of Kossack "roses." The next year after talking with you and a few others we expanded the effort to 300. We repeated the 300 last year.
This year our goal is 600 Care Packages. That's no small matter. Acquiring the products to go into the packages and shipping them overseas will cost around $100,000 through financial and in-kind corporate donations. To meet that goal, we need your help.
How many packages have you shipped over the last three years?
Approximately 800 total so far. It'll be awesome when we cross the 1,000 mark in Minneapolis this year.
How do you decide what to put in the packages?
We start with a list from anysoldier.com and tweak it based on recommendations we get from military advisors who are really experienced with this kind of effort. They've been a huge help.
What kind of reaction have you gotten from the troops?
We've had great response, you can find some of their responses at our website netrootsforthetroops.com
Recently Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Raul Grijalvva joined the NFTT Board of Directors, saying, "It is important that we remind our soldiers stationed around the world that they are not forgotten, and that we deeply appreciate the sacrifices they make.”
We’re excited to have Rep. Grijalva join our efforts. We know it will mean a lot to the recipients of our packages to know our Representatives in D.C. appreciate the work they are doing.
On a more personal note, finish this sentence: In the kitchen I make a mean…
…anything grilled.
What's the one book every Kossack must read?
Even though its kind of too late, Bush's Brain. After that any of Markos' books (he says to kiss up to the man).
No waffling here: dogs or cats?
Definitely Dogs. I prefer Corgis. Although I have had two cats before, but they really kill my allergies. By the way, for the curious the cats were black domestic short hairs.
Do you still need volunteers and/or donors for this year's Netroots for the Troops campaign, and are donations tax-deductible?
Yes and Yes. We'll provide more info later about volunteers at Netroots Nation. Donations? Definitely! And Netroots For The Troops, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization, so your donation is tax-deductible. We really appreciate all the support the community gives.
You can watch a You Tube interview with Tony and see photos of last year's event at Eclectablog's place. NFTT is, says the mighty Eclecta, "like nothing I have ever seen."
To make a donation that helps cover the cost of the care package contents and postage, Click here and then click 'Make a Donation' on the left-hand side..
And if you're keeping count, only 42 days 'til the big event. Unreal how tempus fugits. Just unreal.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, May 5, 2011
Note: Lest we forget, multimillionaire Osama bin Laden dropped out of society out of frustration with the status quo and in deference to a radical ideology. Which leads to today's big question: did bin Laden go Galt?
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Independence Day: 60
Days `til the Northwest Georgia Hot Air Balloon Festival in Menlo: 8
Rank of Paul Krugman among 26 media pundits who are the most accurate predictors of things: #1
Rank of Cal Thomas on the list: 26
(Source: a Hamilton College class analysis)
Expected number of U.S. states that are expected to have smoking bans in restaurants, bars and the workplace by 2020: 50
Number of states that enacted such bans between 2000 and 2010: 26
(Source: CDC Office on Smoking and Health)
Time after which same-sex kisses would be allowed to appear on television shows, as proposed by Britain's Prime Minister: 9pm
(Source: Americablog)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Also on the hysteria front, assorted armchair warriors have advocated using torture against the detainees. Look, we got through two world wars without stooping that low---and, sticking to the "whatever works" program, torture doesn't. You can torture someone into confessing anything, but that doesn't help move an investigation forward. As all cops know, false confessions just screw up an investigation. Put the bastinados away
---November, 2001
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Puppy Pic of the Day: My suggestions are Crockett, Tubbs, Danno, Officer Krupke, Cagney, Lacey and Pepper Anderson. How about you?
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CHEERS to the not-a-victory-lap victory lap. President Obama visits Ground Zero in New York City today to offer a symbolic sense of closure to the 9/11 attacks masterminded by the now-sleeping-in-Davy-Jones'-Locker-filled-with-stinky-sweatsocks terrorist Osama bin…um…something something (I had to kick his last name out of my brain yesterday to make room for some porn). His remarks---and they will move you to tears, that much we know---come on the heels of yesterday's BIG decision to not release any death photos of Whatsizface. I think it's a good call. I mean, I have a morbid fascination with death and I've checked out a few "celebrity dead people" sites. (One word for John Dillinger: Ouch!) But here's Obama's dilemma: If he doesn’t release a photo, people will scream:
"You have no proof! Osama's not really dead! This is a hoax!"
But if he does release a photo, people will scream:
"That's a fake! Osama's not really dead! This is a hoax!"
It's lose-lose. So, seeing that the world is acting more or less non-chalant about the whole thing, Obama has room to say to the conspiracy nuts: "Eh…fuck ya." And that's a win.
JEERS to understating the obvious. So yesterday around noon I'm minding my own business, slurping on tomato soup and savoring my 25,776th peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I started eating them 45 years ago. And suddenly MSNBC midday dominatrix anchor Contessa Brewer shows up on my teevee to tell me something very important is coming up:
"We saw a lot of celebrating crowds Sunday night. I'm going to talk to Dr. Phil about what sparked that jubilation."
Ironically, the only people who didn’t already know the answer were people living in caves.
CHEERS to Cinco de Mayo. Today is the one day a year when we can re-enact the Battle of Puebla using loaded paintball muskets without getting arrested. At Casa de C&J we'll observe our usual custom of planting a Mexican flag in our neighbor's yard and then taking them prisoner. Then, after beating our Archduke Maximilian piñata (now on sale at Sam's Club, but unfortunately they only come in packs of five thousand), we'll dig in to some authentic Irish nachos. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year??? Hardly, amigo.
CHEERS to little doings under the big top. Tonight---the silly season begins!!! In South Carolina the first Republican debate will take place between That Guy I've Never Heard Of, That Other Guy I've Never Heard Of, Man-On-Dog Guy, Mullet Man and, lording over them all, the GOP's Geppetto, Ron Paul. As they spar over god, guns and gays, millions upon millions of viewers will be riveted…to American Idol.
CHEERS to Humpty Harry. The Senate majority leader had a great fall while jogging yesterday, but all the king's horses and all the king's men at George Washington University Hospital were able to put him back together again. Everyone's pretty amazed by what happened: Harry Reid finally managed to twist somebody's arm.
CHEERS to creepy communication. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sent out a tweet yesterday that read: How much would I give to be one of the 72 Virginans Osama is ‘hanging out’ with since Sunday? Many people accused him of drunk-tweeting. Others dismissed him as a poor speller. Both camps are wrong. For, you see, it's my understanding that martyrs with special dietary needs can place a customized order prior to their transition to the afterlife. Cuccinelli was simply pointing out that Osama required 72 virgin vegans, or "Virginans." See? It makes perfect sense. This is the same Ken Cuccinelli, by the way, who tried to toy with the breast of the Roman goddess Virtus on the state seal a year ago, which for a brief time made him, presumably, a "Virgintus." So what does the Republican AG's obsession with virgins and boobs mean? It means he's probably got a helluva lot of explaining to do to his wife.
CHEERS to connecting the docs. The American Medical Association was formed 164 years ago today. Medical professionals from 22 states and 28 medical schools attended the first gathering to get up to speed on such topics as, "How to Smoke a Stogie Properly Over an Open Wound", "Why Drugs Will Never Replace A Good Hot Poultice", and Ether: Your After-hours Friend. On their first day they unanimously approved the association's motto which is still in place today: "I'm sending you to a specialist."
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Five years ago in C&J: May 5, 2006
JEERS to chickadees of mass destruction. New federal guidelines for dealing with a bird flu pandemic were made public yesterday. One of the key rules of work etiquette during an outbreak is "...keeping co-workers at least 3 feet apart." To help those who would be hurt the most, C&J has established the Porn Star Relief Fund. Please watch our telethon this weekend...and give generously.
JEERS to Russian to judgment. President Dick Cheney berates the Vladimir Putin administration for the way it's attempting to restrict the rights of its citizens. I believe his exact words were, "You're doing it all wrong. Here, let me show you how we do it..."
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And just one more…
CHEERS to precious Kum ba Yah moments. I have a muse, y'know. Okay, two. One is my late grandmother, the Mark Twain author and historian (he said with more than a hint of pride in his voice). The other is very much alive, is a dude, and lives in the right-wing blogosphere. He's my good friend Tim Graham from Right Wing News Watch and Newsbusters, and he likes to hop over the ideological fence and feast on the bottom-feeding scum ("Radical leftists" he calls us---that's original) here in Hippieland. In the past, he's taken me to task for my criticism of the Boy Scouts leadership, which covered up sexual abuse cases going back decades. And I apparently bruised his delicate sensibilities during my 2009 nude Christmas booger blogging. (When he didn’t show up last year, it just wasn't the same---I'm sure you felt his absence, too.) Anyway, like all patriotic Americans Mr. Graham enjoys a daily dose of intellectual crap like the kind I post in Cheers and Jeers (I admit it!). And since he took the time to grant me some free publicity for my unhelpful comments about Osama bin Laden's capture, I just wanted to say thanks, Tim, for the shoutout, and also for your supportive words regarding public broadcasting:
PS: Bill also celebrated hard-left folksinger Pete Seeger's 92nd birthday with this utterly typical PBS clip.
Yes. Utterly typical in that's it's accurate, illuminating, well-researched and edited, and focuses on a beloved American folk hero who wrote, among other classics, the iconic "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had a Hammer." So thank you again, Tim, for pointing out that PBS is television utterly worth watching. I predict your endorsement will result in a dramatic increase in federal funding. I honor your bipartisan spirit, sir. And I bid you…a good day.
Have a nice Thursday. Beware the scorned graffiti artists. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
With bin Laden dead, Bill in Portland Maine becomes World's Most Wanted
---McClatchy News
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