From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Sunday…Sunday!...SUNDAY!!!
The skies over Providence were blue and the sun was---[checks notes]---yellow last Sunday for the "Day of Service." It's an annual event that caps the Netroots Nation convention by allowing attendees the opportunity to give something back to our host community, and this year it was in partnership with the groups Clean Water Action and Save the Bay. This was the first year Michael and I were able to participate, and it was a lot of fun.
With organizer Emilie Aries as our guide, a couple dozen of us were first shuttled to Roger Williams Park---a 435-acre swath of beauteousness that once belonged to Rhode Island's founder---where we spent some time picking up plastic wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, cigarette butts, aluminum cans, cigarette butts, cigarette butts and cigarette butts. To be fair, the park is really clean, and most of the litter we found was trapped underneath bushes and leaves. Except the butts, which were everywhere. Smokers: we need to have a little chat about that.
While walking along a sidewalk, I came across something unexpected: a metal WPA shield embedded in the cement that looked similar to this one. Turns out Franklin Roosevelt's depression-era Works Progress Administration gave jobs to the unemployed building sidewalks and bridges there. It worked out well: the park was beautified for generations, and the workers got to, y'know, feed their families.
I ran my fingers across that WPA shield and felt a sense of pride in how our country responded during those tough times with public works projects that are still highly visible today. And I wondered: in 75 years, what evidence of our collective response to the Crash of 2008 will people stumble upon as they perform their Day of Service at NN87? Probably nothing. Nothing big, anyway. Nothing grand, nothing enduring. Thank you, Do-Nothing Republicans. This extended middle finger salute is for you.
Anyway. After we'd filled several trash bags, we were greeted in the parking lot by a gaggle of appreciative VIPs, including Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (who comes across as the guy everyone would love to have as their next door neighbor), Congressman Jim Langevin, and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. It was yet another sign that they appreciated us having our convention in their back yard as much as we appreciated their hospitality.
Having left the park a little cleaner than we found it, we moved on.
Tomorrow: wind turbines and green roofs and methane pumps…oh my!
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Note: It's Wednesday the 13th. Not as unlucky as Friday, but you'll still want to take your titanium parasol if you're planning to venture into the wild. Hugs, Heloise
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til Pappy's Day: 4
Days 'til the 31st annual Polish Fest in Milwaukee: 2
Amount Americans are spending on graduation gifts this year: $4.7 billion
(Source: Time)
Amount that Maine summer camps are expected to pump into our economy this year: $332 million
Number of U.S. breweries that opened up in 2002: 55
Number of U.S. breweries that opened up in 2011: 250
(Brewers Association)
Year during which socialist clergyman Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance: 1892
(Source: AP)
-
Mid-week Rapture Index: 176 (including 5 gogs and 1 clumsy Pentecostal snake handler). Soul Protection Factor 18 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Personally I have no problem with legal canine immigrants from war zones. As long as they woof in English.
-
CHEERS to many happy returns. In primary election action yesterday, Maine Democrats chose progressive Cynthia Dill to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Olympia "Too Liberal For The Tea Party" Snowe. She'll run against Maine's GOP Secretary of State Charlie Summers, and they'll both get crushed by independent former Governor Angus King, who will caucus with Democrats and be excellent on social issues but slippery on fiscal issues (if offered a seat on a worthless budget "Supercommittee," I bet he'd gladly accept). Oops. Sorry. Shoulda said "Spoiler alert."
CHEERS to stepping into the boss's shoes. Yesterday in Arizona, voters entrusted the care of Gabrielle Giffords' seat to Democrat Ron Barber. And now, your moment of schadenfreude:
Republicans, sensing a chance to capture the seat, sought to make the special election a referendum on President Obama and his handling of the economy.
And playing by the Republicans' and the beltway media's own rules---so prominently displayed in Wisconsin last week---the only logical conclusion from yesterday's election is that PRESIDENT OBAMA IS GOING TO WIN IN ARIZONA THIS NOVEMBER!!!! Awesome.
JEERS to Mr. Snooty McDumbstick. If this happened to President Obama it would be a HUGE scandal: Mitt Romney said on Fox & Fiends that the federal government doesn't hire firefighters:
"That's a very strange accusation. Of course teachers, and firemen, and policemen are hired at the local level and also by states. The federal government doesn't pay for teachers, firefighters, or policemen. So obviously that is completely absurd."
Yes. Absurd. So absurd that after two seconds of Googling I found
this:
Massive wildfires in drought-parched Colorado and New Mexico tested the resources of state and federal crews Monday and underscored the need to replenish an aging U.S. aerial firefighting fleet needed to combat a year-round fire season. … [A]n elite federal firefighting crew arrived to try to begin containing a fire that destroyed at least 118 structures. … The U.S. Forest Service said late Monday it would add more aircraft to its aerial firefighting fleet...
In fact, there's even a proposed
Federal Firefighters Fairness Act that's languishing (of course) in Congress. So once again, for lying through his choppers, we rate the Republican Tea Party candidate for president's claim: Magic Underpants On Fire.
CHEERS to the anti-Clarence Thomas. On June 13, 1967, in an act of courage and brilliance, Lyndon Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. His 24 years on the bench worked out very well for America. And no one ever---ever---found a pubic hair on his Coke can.
JEERS to the banality of evil. Have you seen those pretty ads on teevee for the Michigan tourism industry? Golly, they make the state look swell. But I wonder if people would be as inclined to visit if they knew the state was in the grip of a dictator governor who gets his jollies from taking control of and then destroying communities dominated by minorities. It's truly bizarre to see the kind of stuff Rick Snyder and his Republican Orcs in the legislature are getting away with:
In Michigan, stands of towering trees on a woodsy 22-acre patch of parkland were knocked down so three holes of a privately owned golf course could be built---extending right to the crest of sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan. The town, Benton Harbor, the poorest in the state, is predominantly African-American. In exchange, residents are getting a system of hiking trails connecting smaller chunks of inland acreage. The replacement land was located around old industrial areas and contained lead, benzopyrene and about 20 other chemicals, according to a report prepared for the developer.
Stay tuned for the unveiling of the state's new slogan: "Come to Michigan---We Only Poison Our Peasants!"
CHEERS to the rulebook I routinely ignore. 111 years ago today--in 1901--the first professional open championship to utilize rules of the U.S. Golf Association was held in Hamilton, Massachusetts. Topping the list: make sure the beer's cold.
-
Five years ago in C&J: June 13, 2007
JEERS to the inner workings of the military mind. The Pentagon requested 7.5 million of your tax dollars to create a gay bomb designed to emit an aroma that would "turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting." They originally suggested a bomb that would simply make heterosexual soldiers more interested in sex than fighting, but decided that was just too silly.
JEERS to sheer ignorance. Can we just bring this out into the open? The majority of Republicans are idiots. By not believing in over a century of scientific study supporting the theory of evolution by a 68 percent margin, they forfeit their rights to be treated with respect. They are dullards. Dimwits. Dim bulbs. Nitwits. Dopes. Numbskulls. Idiots. Simpletons. Dumkopfs. Nincompoops. Empty sockets. Children left behind. Lost souls. A card shy of a full deck. Empty-headed. On the other hand, thank God they're here to prevent America from making progress too quickly. We might sprain a brain lobe.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to everyone's favorite Center Square. Today is late comedian and Hollywood Squares icon Paul Lynde's 86th birthday. Regular readers know I boast about him because he and I share the same hometown---Mt. Vernon, Ohio---and also a distrust of politicians: "They talk in generalities and lies, and I think they’ve caused all our grief." He was gay gay gay gay gay, but the marriage proposals from clueless middle-aged women rolled in by the truckload anyway. I'd be shirking my duty if I didn't post some of his classic Squares zingers...
Peter Marshall: The Great White is one of the most feared animals. What is the Great White?
Paul Lynde: A sheriff in Alabama.
-
Peter Marshall: According to the Constitution, what's the proper term for our form of government?
Paul Lynde: At the moment? Shaky. Or will you accept Thppppppppttt!!!
-
Peter Marshall: Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.
-
Peter Marshall: Nathan Hale, one of the heroes of the American Revolution, was hung. Why?
Paul Lynde: Heredity.
-
Peter Marshall: Pride, anger, covetousness, lust, gluttony, envy, and sloth are collectively known as what?
Paul Lynde: The Bill of Rights.
And who can forget
Uncle Arthur on
Bewitched? Even 30 years after he died, everyone who knows of him remembers him fondly. Except, perhaps, Mount Vernon, Ohio, which I understand removed signs at the city limits touting my hometown as the "Birthplace of Paul Lynde." Still up, however, are the signs promoting Mount Vernon as the "Birthplace of Daniel Decatur Emmett," the composer of the Confederacy's anthem "Dixie." As Paul would say: "Oh my goodness!"
Have a nice Wednesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"The conservative movement needs a Bill in Portland Maine. And I hope to fill some of that vacuum."
---Glenn Beck
-