From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Among the things I'm thankful for: that 80-something bloggers and "best friends for sixty years and counting" Margaret (the Mainer) and Helen (The Texan) are still at it. Helen is having the clan over for turkey again. Some snips from her annual letter:
Their deck guns are loaded with pies.
[S]peaking of the oldest profession, I am truly thankful that none of my granddaughters dress like a Kardashian. That Kim became famous for putting her private moments on the internet web for the whole world to see. We used to call that pornography but today they call it social media. My goodness how the world has changed. I’ll be even more thankful when her fifteen minutes…weeks…years….. are finally up because in my book she’s a glorified adult movie star. I do, however, like her backside. A woman with a healthy bottom can’t be all bad… as long as it got that way eating pie. […]
Oh and thank goodness brussels sprouts have made a comeback. Now I have something to feed the vegetarian… no wait. I cook them in bacon grease. Sorry about that. I guess if you want a salad honey, bring your own… unless it’s Jell-O salad. If you bring Jell-O salad to my front door, just keep walking to my back door. You’ll find the trash can on the patio to your left. Jell-O salad looks like something the dog’s been keepin’ under the porch and I’ve got no use for salad of any kind except chicken or egg. […]
And now that I have gotten my crankiness out of the way, let me say that I am very thankful to have you in my family. Your grandfather, God rest his soul, loved a big meal. We’re having the same meal his mother used to make and the one I made for him every year of our marriage: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes made with real cream, sweet corn, candied yams, roasted brussels sprouts, green beans, cranberry sauce, homemade bread, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie and a nap.
Read
the whole letter here. As usual, I'm disappointed there won’t be any livestreaming.
Happy Gobble Gobble, everyone. A few more goodies, including a Molly Ivins Thanksgiving feast featuring roasted Cheney, below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, November 27, 2014
Note: Here's the schedule for the rest of the week. No C&J tomorrow or Monday due to time-travel obligations (some roughhousing in the Bronze Age I gotta take care of). We'll return on Tuesday for the final sprint to 2015. After that? I dunno, history---surprise me.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the Lighting of the National Christmas Tree with Tom Hanks, Patti LaBelle, Fifth Harmony, Nico & Vinz and The Tenors: 9
Date of Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation: 10/3/1863
Cost of a turkey dinner for ten with all the trimmings, up 37 cents from last year: $49.41
(Source: American Farm Bureau Federation)
Minimum number of presidents who have called the Butterball hotline: 1
(Source: The West Wing)
Number of NFL games today: 3
Population of Turkey, Texas: 410
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Your Turkey Day Molly Ivins Moment:
Since the political world ranges from poor to icky these days, you may think we are gratitudinally challenged this Thanksgiving. But a mere soupcon of sunny optimism goes a long way toward getting us to dwell on how lucky we are. We are abundantly blessed with lemons. Let us make lemonade. […]
I am also grateful that Vice President Dick Cheney---that little ray of sunshine, that bouncing ball of light and happiness spreading joy where'er he goes---is so well prepared for a brilliant second career. He's perfect to play the heavy in films. Not since Jimmy Cagney was a gangster have we seen a sneer like that. In the remake of "Jaws," Cheney can play the shark. […]
There's music in poor bleeding New Orleans again, Ted Koppel and his hair put in a commendable 25 years, some terrific new films are out, my puppy has not eaten a shoe for an entire month now, and the Mountain West is moving from red to purple.
So let's all loosen our belts and get right down to the all-American tradition of overeating on Thanksgiving. It's still a great country, even if it is a little strange. I am grateful for all my fellow citizens — how would we know it was America if we didn't hear regularly from the nincompoop faction? Happy turkey to you all.
---November, 2005
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Puppy Pic of the Day: The classic…
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Things For Which I Am Thankful: 2014 Edition
The abbreviated list:
That the first and middle name of our 44th president is Barack Hussein and not John Sidney or Willard Mitt
Joe Biden
Michelle and the kids
Our soldiers over here and over there
All the indigenous people of North America
Bill McKibben and all the activists who continue beating the drum against tar-sands oil
Whatever the Pope's smokin'
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Elizabeth Warren Democrats and Bernie Sanders Socialists
Re-elected Senators Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin, Cory Booker and Mark Warner
Maine Senator Angus King (I), for proving to be a voice of sanity in the upper chamber
The Congressional Black, Hispanic and Progressive Caucus
Notorious RBG
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Marriage equality in 35 states and the rogue activist judges who made it possible by doing the unthinkable: upholding the Constitution
The expansion of legal recreational use of marijuana
Campaign volunteers and polling place workers
Walmart and fast-food worker protesters
Employers who gave their employees the day off
Minimum-wage hike supporters
Responsible gun ownership advocates
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Bill Moyers (Enjoy your retirement---you earned it)
Maddow, Schultz, O'Donnell, Rev. Al, Chris Hayes, Steve Kornacki and Melissa Harris-Perry
Stewart, Colbert and John Oliver
E.J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson, Paul Begala
Naomi Klein, Joan Walsh, Marcy Wheeler, Glenn Greenwald, Robert Greenwald, Eleanor Clift, Joy Reid
Atrios, Digby, Americablog, John Cole, Dan Savage
Think Progress, Media Matters, The Southern Poverty Law Center, PFAW
The ghosts of Molly Ivins and Ted Kennedy
Krugman! Krugman! Krugman!
Dean! Dean! Dean!
Malala
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My partner, Michael, for growing old with me
All of my bosses at Daily Kos
The front-pagers and diarists here, for explaining stuff I don't know boo about
The rest of the progressive blogosphere, for having the wisdom to follow all the orders issued by Keyboard Kingpin Markos
Netroots Nation and its organizers
SaraR's quilts
Dirty Fucking Hippies
M'doggie. M'pootie.
Righty blogs, an endless source of unintentional humor (bless their hearts)
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Wineries
Distilleries
Breweries
The GREAT STATE OF MAINE
Clam chowder
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Evolution
Electric cars
High-speed rail
Unions
Diversity
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Peace. (Yeah, it's a word. I looked it up.)
And, as ever, that magic moment at 6am when the Bacardi 151 crosses the blood-brain barrier.
How 'bout you?
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