From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Fresh Paneling
I didn’t think there'd be so much naked unicorn racing at Netroots Nation this year.
Correction: Drat. It was just a dream. (But, if you're curious, Jotter won by a horn.)
Anyway. In 19 weeks, Providence, Rhode Island will become the national epicenter of progressive word, thought and deed as thousands of, well, "us" descend on the City by the Narragansett Bay for the Netroots Nation 2012 convention June 7-10.
This year we're fighting for nothing less than the soul of America---to take our country back by moving in a new direction today for a brighter tomorrow so real Americans can win the future by putting country first so we can be country strong and run through amber waves of grain as we crush Republicans with such fury that they lay down and whimper like the dogs they are. [P'too!] Plus excellent speakers, parties and swag bags.
Right now---but only for another six days---you have an opportunity to shape the agenda at NN12. Whether you're interested in big-picture discussions of economics, energy, civil rights, elections, foreign policy etc., or more intimate meta conversations on how the progressive netroots can guide the direction of the big-picture topics, your moment is now to let your wings take dream.
Netroots Nation Executive Director Raven Brooks has the nitty gritty:
Your submissions will help us create an inclusive and engaging agenda, while also helping shape the national dialogue for progressives in the coming months.
It's easy to submit an idea. Click here for the guidelines and submission form.
When you're brainstorming topics, here are a few things to consider: How does my idea help the broader progressive movement? How will it empower activists to take what they've learned and use it for the greater good? Do my proposed panelists represent diversity---of ethnicity, gender, geography, age and viewpoint? Does the session engage an underrepresented community and reach out to other activists who may not yet identify with the Netroots?
The deadline for submissions is Tuesday January 31, 2012.
The organizers are hosting a special webinar tomorrow, Jan. 26, at 2pm ET to answer questions and fill in details about the panel submission process. Click here to RSVP.
So pour yourself a stiff one (it's 5 O'clock somewhere) and think about what your dream panel would look like. (The 2011 agenda is here if you want some inspiration.) Then write it up and send it in. Yours might be the standing-room-only event everyone talks about afterward.
P.S. To register for NN 12, click here and for hotel info click here.
Meanwhile, Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Note: The C&J Dept. of Nummy Nums informs me that there's still space available for your keister at the next New England Kossack Meetup scheduled for Saturday, February 18 from 1-4 at Margarita's Mexican Restaurant in Portsmouth. Please RSVP to my better half, Michael, at cuckolds04103 [at] gmail.com. On the agenda: meeting up. (Duh.)
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til Australia Day: 1
Days `til the Madison Winter Festival in Wisconsin: 24
Average global temperature in 2011: 57.9 degrees
Rank of 2011 on the list of hottest years since recordkeeping began: #11
(Source: NOAA)
Current GOP primary delegate count for, respectively, Newt Freelove, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Father Rick Coughlin and Libertarian Gepetto: 23, 18, 11, 6
Chance a Florida Republican thinks the party is intentionally "stalling" the economy to prevent Obama's reelection: 1-in-4
(Source: Harper's Index)
Age of Dorothea Taylor when she grabbed a shovel and fended off a mad moose that was attacking her husband: 85
-
Mid-week Rapture Index: 181 (including 5 Persias and 1 nightmare flight on Super Monster Mega Ultra Astronaut Hero Dinosaur Cowboy Airlines). Soul Protection Factor 4 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Tough pooch
-
CHEERS to arriving fired up and ready to go. That Barack Obama is a baaaad mother…. (Shut your mouth!) Well, I'm talking about Obama. (And we can dig it!) Last night's State of the Union address (transcript here), in my humble opinion, had confidence, optimism, and just the right amount of impatience running through it. My notes are all over the place, but here's the brain dump for future archaeologists to marvel over:
- The extended Gabby-Obama hug may be the coolest thing I've ever seen at a SOTU. But, uh, the president would like his wallet back, ma'am.
- No troops are in Iraq anymore!!! (Audience: In where anymore? Oh, yeah. The place where Saddam was seeking significant quantities of uranium from Africa. They found that, right?)
- I can report that al Qaeda is on the ropes…and Osama bin Laden is dead. Not that we're bragging. Heck, we hear Mitt Romney's caught some varmints, too. Squirrels, mostly.
- Wall Street crooks are bad and corporations wield too much power over ordinary Americans. We should fix that. (Republicans: Yeeeeeeah…we'll get "right to work" on that.)
- The state of our union is getting stronger, despite the best efforts of you idiots sitting in front of me with the elephant pins.
- GM is #1! GM is #1! The auto industry is back! Suck on it, Romney.
- We should not wait for the housing market to "hit bottom." Suck on it again, Romney.
- If you create jobs in America we'll reward you. If you send jobs overseas we'll break your kneecaps. (Whoa…throttle back on the populism just a tad, sir.)
- BREAKING: Republicans are dicks. Happiness breaks their hearts.
- The contrast between SOTU and the GOP campaign speeches is the difference between the Grand Canyon and my bathtub.
- We have more boots on the border than ever. But "we should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now." And pass the damn DREAM Act already. Canadians deserve a fair shake in this country.
- "Let's do some nation-building right here at home! We start searching for WMDs in Hoboken at high noon."
- No! No! No! I can't take it anymore. No more "date-night" seating. This sucks. No one knows when to applaud. The longest sustained standing ovation was literally for an apparent national epidemic of spilled milk. (I hope that's on Wikipedia somewhere because I'm totally lost now.)
- A Federal Prosecutors Unit will expand our investigations of Wall Street abuse. (Nobody applauds, lest they offend their Wall Street donors.)
- Pass the payroll tax cut extension without delay! Change the tax code! Or I'll pull this car over and really give you something to cry about, Boehner.
- Fuck you, Assad. We'll see your sorry ass cowering under a culvert soon enough.
- When he says he'll keep all options on the table with Iran, Joe Lieberman excuses himself to go clean up his pants explosion.
- How 'bout our men and women in uniform? They kinda kick ass, don’t they? Even the gay ones. Yeah, we have gay ones now! How 'bout that?
If last night was a preview of the 2012 campaign season, I almost feel sorry for Republican frontrunners Pettifogger and Vanderbilt. A solid 'A' for the skinny black guy with the funny name.
JEERS to the rebuttal. Y'know, one of the great things about graduating from high school is you don’t have to deal with Principal Ferretface anymore. So why was Principal Ferretface (i.e. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels) on my TV last night scolding me for not suffering enough? Or, to put it another way:
Obama's speech = "America: fuck yeah!"
Mitch Daniels' speech = "America: you're fucked."
Wow. If he's the right's idea of Republican Jesus, I say: Run, Mitch, Run! Meanwhile, because one Republican response just isn’t enough these days, Herman Cain showed up to give the "Tea Party Express" rebuttal. I'd tell you what he said, but I fell asleep after, "Good evening. As the great Pokemon once said…"
CHEERS to previews of coming attractions. Gay marriage appears to be on track in Washington state, now that they've snagged the 25th senate vote they need. Maryland is chugging away on the issue, as is New Jersey. And yesterday I got a super-secret email from the Maine Marriage Campaign, which I am not allowed to share with you. So naturally I'm going to share it with you:
We plan to announce on Thursday whether we will move forward with our efforts to win marriage in Maine at the ballot this year.
I don't know what the answer is. But if I had to guess, I'd say…tune in tomorrow!
CHEERS to meeting the press. Fifty-one years ago today, in 1961, President Kennedy gave the first press conference that was broadcast live on both TV and radio. Not having done it before, the early moments were a bit awkward:
"I want to assure you that I will, with great vigah, endeavuh to ahnsuh your questions thoroughly and completely. Just not in the bahthroom while I am taking my, uh, showuh."
Things went better when they moved it to the press room.
JEERS to tin-eared customer service. So, let's say you run a major cruise line, and one of your huge, 4,200-passenger ships runs aground and flops over on its side, causing brain-numbing terror, panic and several deaths. You'd want to go above and beyond when it came to making things right (or as right as they can be made) with your passengers, of course. But if you're Carnival Cruise Lines, you'd do this instead:
The owners of the Costa Concordia are offering survivors of the disaster a 30 per cent discount off future cruises as they battle to stave off lawsuits expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds. One British survivor of the disaster, which claimed 12 lives with 20 people still missing, branded the offer as "insulting."
That's like offering the survivors of the Titanic complimentary ice cube trays. The thoughtfulness: it burns.
CHEERS to what I learned yesterday on Fox News. It's all so clear now. Thanks to Charles Krauthammer and Steve Hayes last night on Special Report I now know that when President Obama refuses to give Republicans everything they want, he's "being a stubborn obstructionist." But when tea party freshman refuse to give President Obama anything he wants, they're "valiantly sticking by the principles that got them elected." Today in the C&J health clinic: 50 percent off whiplash therapy.
-
Five years ago in C&J: January 25, 2007
CHEERS to sending a message. United for Peace and Justice is organizing a major March on Washington Saturday to protest the Iraq war/escalation/occupation. Bloggers are encouraged to hook up and march together. Before you go, practice the official chant: "What do we want?" "Peace!" "When do we want it?" "Just as soon as Congress passes bipartisan legislation calling for redeployment and diplomacy!" Trust me...it'll sound better on the Mall.
CHEERS to John Kerry. For having the wisdom to understand that he was, is, and always will be a very good...senator. Now get out there on the floor and make some more noise.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to naked men dipped in gold. The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday. In a nutshell, At Midnight in Paris The Descendants of Hugo got on their War Horse and went to see The Artist who lived next to The Tree of Life to get The Help they needed in finding their Moneyball, which was easy because it was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The End. Fade to black.
Have a nice Wednesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Liberté, Egalité, Débauche: Former French Minister Pushes For Creation of “BillinPortlandMaineland”
---Jonathan Turley
-