From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Monday Margaret and Helen Blogging
Hooray---they're back. The blogosphere's feistiest 80-somethings weigh in on the Supreme Court's marriage decision and the ridiculous religious rhetoric that followed:
Glad they're on our side.
I read somewhere that Glenn Beck has 10,000 to 20,000 pastors ready to die before gay marriage would become legal. Funny. I haven’t seen any obituaries printed. Religious conviction has its limits I guess, but that really is one herd I would love to see thinned. Of course if a government is able to show more compassion than your church, maybe you should join another church.
It’s just so odd that all this hatred and discrimination seems to be emanating from a bunch of Republicans who claim to represent Jesus. Now there is a conundrum. As a Christian politician do you abide by the law of the land and treat others with love and respect or do you follow the teachings of Jesus and treat others with love and respect? Such a dilemma.
And a
bonus post here. Both are from late last month, so here's an update on the number of conservative Christians who have made good on their rhetoric by either dying or going to jail over the issuance of civil marriage licenses to same-sex couples: oh, hell, on second thought I'll just let you take a wild guess.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, July 13, 2015
Note: It's Monday the 13th. It's not as perilous as Friday the 13th, but we still recommend you carry a cast-iron skillet if you plan to leave the house. There's crazy people out there. ---Mgt.
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4 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til Jade Helm 15. the Obama invasion of Texas, begins:
2
Days 'til the 62nd
Robin Hood Festival in Sherwood, Oregon:
4
Time tomorrow that the New Horizons probe will fly closest to Pluto:
7:49am ET
Percent chance that the craft contains some of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh's ashes:
100%
Percent of Americans who say they eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies every day:
13%
Rank of California and Tennessee among states with the highest percent of people who get enough fruits and veggies:
#1, #50
(Source: CDC)
Percent chance that Medicare will now start paying for end-of-life counseling with doctors---the same counseling the right-wingers denounced as "death panels" as Obamacare was being crafted:
100%
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Puppy Pic of the Day: "It was like a magician pulling a long string of scarves out of a hat…"
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Suck on it, haters.
CHEERS to peaceable times. After multiple delays and extensions that were less a sign of diplomatic intransigence and more a sign that they didn’t want to give up their
amaaaazing million-dollar-a-night hotel rooms, today the whole world will sit back and say
"Day-amn!" to the fact that the United States and Iran have
reached an agreement on nukes 'n stuff. The reaction in Iran and the U.S. will be slightly different. Over there, the people will dance and sing in the streets over what their leadership plans to do. Over here, the Senate hawks will dance and sing in the chamber over what they plan to un-do.
CHEERS jeers TO to THE the BIG big DAY! day. HILLARY scott CLINTON walker IS is ANNOUNCING announcing HER his ECONOMIC presidential OUTLINE bid TODAY today IN in NEW YORK CITY madison NEW YORK wisconsin. IT'LL it'll BE be REALLY really EXCITING anti-climactic.
The guy on the right is sad because
he knows he's in the shot with LePage.
JEERS to gubernatorial malfeasance. Three years ago this week, Maine Governor Paul LePage---who
let another 51 bills he hated become law Saturday night as a result of his incompetence---embarrassed our state more than usual by calling the IRS "the new Gestapo." Instead of apologizing, he doubled down by telling a reporter that, yes, he believes that the IRS is
headed in the direction of mass murder. Out of curiosity, this morning I called our local IRS office to see if it had moved any closer to the governor's apocalyptic vision, and got this recording:
"Hello! It's a great day at the Internal revenue Service! For tax form assistance, press 1. For payment or refund information, press 2. For general questions, press 3. Or stay on the line and the next available representative will gas you…er, assist you, assist you!"
See? Nothing to worry about. Stupid governor.
JEERS to the oozing pustule of the GOP that no one can take their eyes off of because it's just so oozy and pustuley. Yup----racism. We saw it among the backwoods yokels (and some state legislators) during the movement to take down the confederate flag at the South Carolina State House, and over the weekend we saw it during the Arizona rally keynoted by the #1-ranked Republican candidate for president as he channeled his inner Fox Nation comment section. There was
some confusion about the size of Donald Trump's Saturday night crowd. He claimed that 20,000 people turned out, even though the venue says the place can only hold four thousand. Easy explanation: the Supreme Court was very clear in the
Parasites United decision that cockroaches are people, my friends, so the 16,000 that showed up and skittered around the floor during the rally count. As for RNC chairman Reince Priebus's reaction to Trump's surge to the top of the polls: he's now resting comfortably after spending the weekend scrawling Edvard Munch's "The Scream" on his cell wall with a crayon stuck between his toes.
JEERS to petty politicians (sorry, is that redundant?). Forty-three years ago today, the late George McGovern became the Democratic presidential nominee at the convention in Miami Beach. A while back some secret Nixon tapes were released, revealing #37 as that rare breed of paranoid---the sore winner:
[Sigh] Heckuva job, voters.
Several hours after the election, after 1:00am, when vote totals are known, Henry Kissinger calls Nixon to congratulate him on the landslide victory: "It's an extraordinary tribute," he said. [...] Then they go after the loser, George McGovern:
Nixon: "You know this fellow, to the last, was a prick. Did you see his concession statement?" [...] Nixon says speechwriter Ray Price urged him to send McGovern a message that he looks forward to working with him and his supporters for peace in the years ahead.
Nixon: "And I just said hell no, I'm not gonna send him that sort of wire."
I'll say this. Dick sure knew how to live up to his name.
CHEERS to Great Moments in Providing for the Common Defense. "Oceans can no longer protect us." So proclaimed President George W. Bush after allowing al Qaeda to commit the most horrific foreign attack on an American state since the War of 1812. But all that's about to change, thanks to Congressman Darrell Issa, who apparently has nothing to do since he got booted from round-the-clock Benghazi committee duty. Issa's brilliant idea is to start naming the oceans after mighty Grenada warrior god Ronald Reagan. Hear that flapping sound? ISIS. White flag.
CHEERS to portable suds. On this most important date in 1568, a sudserrific scientific breakthrough was made:
"...97...98...99."
Dr. Alexander Nowell, Dean of St Paul's is reputed to have discovered the benefits of bottled beer by accident. According the History of the Pint, the Dean had decanted some beer into a bottle for a fishing expedition in 1568. He lost a bottle in the grass and, "when he came upon it again quite by chance a few days later, found it was still perfectly drinkable"
The news of bottled beer was hailed as a major breakthrough among the clergy. Try stashing a keg under your robe during morning prayers sometime and you'll see why.
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Ten years ago in C&J: July 13, 2005
CHEERS to Eileen Collins. The 48 year-old retired Air Force colonel/test pilot will become the first female commander of a shuttle mission when she pops the clutch and zooms into space today aboard the Discovery. And unlike all the previous male-led missions, if necessary she won't be embarrassed to stop and ask for directions.
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And just one more…
HA HA!!! to revisiting the prediction of the century. With the 10th annual Netroots Nation convention just three days away, it's worth remembering that it all started as "Yearly Kos." (Kudos to Pastor Dan Schultz, Gina Cooper and the team that put in the work to make that first experiment in Vegas such a chocolate fountainy success). But storm clouds gathered that same year when highly-influential right-wing journalist Noel Sheppard insisted that the Great Orange Satan was on the cusp of tumbling into the ash heap of history:
IS THE DAILY KOS ABOUT TO IMPLODE?
If the sight of Kos in a suit on "Meet the
Press" didn't ruin us, then nothing will.
It appears that the post-Yearly Kos month from hell is continuing for Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the proprietor of the Internet's premier liberal blog Daily Kos. After receiving some extremely negative press from major publications such as The New York Times, The New Republic and Newsweek immediately following his seemingly successful bloggers' convention in Las Vegas, Kos is now faced with an even greater challenge: dissension within his ranks.
Such internal squabbling comes at the same time that many prominent Democrats seem to be privately expressing concern about the direction the "netroots"---the self-described Internet grassroots movement of liberal bloggers and their loyal followers---are taking the Party. This seemingly inconvenient planetary alignment is not only threatening the long-term viability of this crusade, but also is putting Kos in an uncomfortable position just as his notoriety is skyrocketing.
Nine years, nine bigger-and-better Netroots Nation conventions, and oodles of election victories both big and small later, "The" Daily Kos continues to not implode. We're on great terms with a large number of Democratic lawmakers (Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and Alan Grayson to name a few), candidates, unions, and grassroots organizers inside the liberal universe. Sure, our occasional pie fights are the stuff of legend. But imploding? Nah. These days that's purely the Republicans' turf.
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Bill in Portland Maine said the F-word and it is everything. He's basically all of our grumpy grandpas.
---Buzzfeed
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