From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
212 Days and Counting
Last week Michael and I reserved the janitor's closet a microsuite with complimentary cleaning supplies at the Westin for Netroots Nation 2012, which happens June 7-10 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Get on the interstate, turn left at Albuquerque and make a right at the light---if you find yourself driving up the steps of a Vanderbilt mansion you're in Newport and you've gone too far.) I know I say this every year, but I think this one is going to be the best yet, especially because it'll be a major election year and Providence is close enough to D.C. to attract some bigger-than-big-name stars. (I'd walk over hot celery to meet Joe Biden.)
There's a great reason to register right now if you haven't already: Between now and Veteran's Day (this Friday), every NN12 registration will trigger a $50 donation towards Netroots for the Troops. NFTT and our supporters (including Congressmembers like Reps. Raul Grijalva and Tim Walz) pack and send hundreds of care packages to U.S. combat troops overseas. 2012 marks the fifth year of what is a truly grassroots effort. You can read about last year's event in Minneapolis here. Ask anyone who's participated and they'll tell you it's one of the highlights of the convention, and when the army of volunteers sets upon packing thse boxes, it's an amazing sight.
To register for Netroots Nation and trigger the $50 donation, click on this special dedicated link before end of day Friday. Please use only that link. Don’t make me unleash the power of the dark side of the kiddie pool.
It's a great thing that our troops will be gone from Iraq by Christmas. But the ones in Afghanistan will still be there pluggin' away for the time being, and they'll surely appreciate that we haven't forgotten about 'em. C&J is a proud supporter of Netroots for the Troops, and we thank all of you who register(ed) for the NN12 convention during this fundraiser. I always did like you best.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Note: Vote!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Thanksgiving: 16
Days `til the Vancouver Poutine Festival: 11
Percent of Louisiana's population that is black: 32%
Percent of Louisiana's prison population that is black: 70%
(Source: The Rachel Maddow Show)
Estimated number of people who applied for 24 jobs at a Tyson Foods plant in Vicksburg, Mississippi: 900
Hourly wage being offered for those jobs: $8.60
(Source: AP)
Number of major companies who signed on to an amicus brief calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act: 70
(Source: Think Progress)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
These OWS bums with the hybrid degrees in animal psychology and fecal art appreciation have never been trained to think. Their professors have indoctrinated them. OWS types reject logic and embrace propaganda.
---Commenter "Jugrnut" at Breitbart TV
All together now: 1…2…3… Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Rest in peace, Bella (Tribute page at Tennessee's Elephant Sanctuary here)
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CHEERS to Occupy Maine. Here's a quick rundown of what's going on 'round these here parts:
- The rumors of Occupy Portland's impending demise have been exaggerated. The tents are still up and city officials have no plans to cause trouble. [Waggles fingers 'up']
- We got domes, yes we do, we got domes, HOW 'BOUT YOU!? This is cool: a new kind of simple but sturdy dome shelter, developed by paramedic Ron Dearth and inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller (his daughter loves it), is being used at Portland's Lincoln Park. [Waggles fingers 'up']
- Saturday in Bangor there was a family day. All was peaceful except for the yahoo who drove by and yelled, “Get a job, you [expletives].” [Waggles fingers 'down']
- Meanwhile in Florida, Mainer Stephen King made clear whose side he's on:
There are those in politics, particularly those on the conservative side, who can’t get enough of telling people that the wealthy one per cent must not be taxed because doing so kills jobs. The real job-killers are corporate greed and political expediency. It’s time for working people in Maine and all across the country to take back the American dream."
[Waggles fingers 'way up']
So things are still hummin' along up here. What direction is the waggle wiggling in your neck of the woods?
JEERS to self-evident truths. In light of the woman who came forward yesterday to describe alleged sexual assault by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, and the allegations of financial no-no's on behalf of his campaign, we can categorically conclude that the Koch Brothers have done a really shitty job hand-picking and buying their first presidential candidate. Maybe next time they should purchase a fast-food honcho with a little more political experience. I nominate Mayor McCheese. (He even has his own sash!)
CHEERS to elections worth celebrating. 79 years ago today, on November 8, 1932, New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt was elected president. A few verbal goodies from FDR...
"A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward."
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"The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government."
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"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little."
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"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
[Memo to self: check source on #4. Might be Fillmore?]
CHEERS and JEERS to the difference between us and them. Yesterday President Obama outlined three initiatives to help our veterans find jobs. Republicans outlined zero initiatives to help veterans find jobs. Yeah. That's pretty much the difference.
CHEERS good readin'. On this date in 1731, Benjamin Franklin opened the first library in the colonies, located in Philadelphia. The dedication ceremony was cut short, however, thanks to strict enforcement the colonies' first ever "3 shushes and you're out" rule.
CHEERS to visitors from outer spaaaace. Ohmigod…DUCK!!! Ha ha…just kiddin'. But seriously, a quarter-mile-wide asteroid is going to come within 202,000 miles from Earth at 6:28 this evening. Scientists announced that there is absolutely no chance that it'll hit you on the head, creating a four-mile-wide crater and causing 70-foot-tall tsunamis. I just have one little question: do scientists always make these kinds of announcements while draining a bottle of Jack Daniels?
MELODRAMATIC OVERACTION!!!!! to Salem's lot. Forty six years ago today, Days of Our Lives---my partner, Michael's, favorite soap---premiered on NBC. In an era where soaps have been dropping from the scene like flies, Days keeps chugging along. In fact, the "traditionally conservative sudser" is making daytime headlines with its decision to bring character Will Horton out of the closet. But never fear---the usual betrayals, double-crosses, live burials, illicit affairs, evil twins, revenge schemes, drugged drinks, bad Irish accents and baby-switcheroos will continue. As usual, the sanest person in town is the gay one.
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Five years ago in C&J---November 8, 2006: Midterm madness fallout:
CHEERS to winning back the House. Okay, now you can start measuring the drapes. America heeded the call to throw the bums out and put the grownups back in charge by giving our team 30 pickups. First order of business: blowing the six inches of dust off the ethics manual.
P.S. Tom DeLay's Texas district turned from red to blue overnight. That's gotta hurt. We hope.
CHEERS to running the table. We held on to Maryland and New Jersey, and picked up...are you frickin' kidding me?...SIX??? seats in the Senate last night, including Whitehouse (RI), Casey (PA), Brown (OH), McCaskill (MO), Webb (VA), and Tester in Montana (the last two pending recounts). And how cool is it to be able to say the words, "Senator Bernie Sanders??" Now get on that floor, bang that gavel, and dig into the issues that really matter. We suggest you start with flag-burning. [11/8/11 Update: To answer my oown question five years later: very cool.]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to Billy the Butthead Slayer (that's me!). Like most newspapers, the Portland Press Herald has a teabagger on staff to write opinion columns in which all the conservative talking points are ticked off like items on a grocery list. Every now and then, just to keep him on edge, I load a shell into my rhetorical Howitzer and fire a round into his cubicle. Like earlier this month, after he ripped into the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you'd like to subject yourself to his verbal Ipecac, I'll post it prominently here. (<--- Just click on the period.) Or you can read my response and save yourself the agony:
My compliments to M.D. Harmon for the restraint he displayed in his double-barrel assault on the Occupy Wall Street movement. His Oct. 28 column fails to label the Occupy movement as "Hippies," "Commies," "Drum Beaters," "Anarchists" or "Marxists." I imagine he's saving those for future screeds. Wouldn't be prudent to blow all your cliches in one bundle, I suppose.
I don't have room to correct all of Harmon's distortions, so I'll point out just a few whoppers. First, when he cites "The Wall Street Journal" as his source for "research" on the Occupy Wall Street protesters, he's really citing a piece by Douglas Schoen from the opinion page of the WSJ, not the news pages. The opinion page, of course, is Rupert Murdoch's playground for conservatives willing to fight tooth and nail for the top 1 percent's right to ride roughshod over the bottom 99 percent.
The data that Schoen cites, by the way, was so flawed that it was challenged on-the-air Oct. 19 by Megyn Kelly of Fox News. Schoen backpedaled and was forced to admit that, yes, he was misrepresenting the data he collected at Zuccotti Park.
I guess Mr. Harmon was too busy polishing his bust of Ronald Reagan that day to notice. Stenography is so much easier than actual fact-checking, isn't it?
There's a bit more to it, but that's the gist. I really shouldn't pick on people smaller-minded than me, but…I can't help it. I'm a thinkuh. Humble, too.
Have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"I am Bill in Portland Maine's brother from another mother!"
---Herman Cain
11/4/11
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