From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Carter's 2002 Nobel
Peace Prize photo.
Happy #91 to #39!
If you don’t count George Washington's fake choppers, Jimmy Carter owns the most famous set of presidential teeth in history. That Jimmy grin was what the country wanted after the Watergate mess. And although his one term isn't considered a rousing success, he kept us out of war, focused our attention on energy policy, kept us out of war, protected huge amounts of land, was at the helm during the creation of eight million jobs, brokered peace between Israel and Egypt, and kept us out of war.
Oh, and for the record, let's repeat one more time: he didn't say "malaise," and he did get high marks from the public for his "Crisis of Confidence" speech.
Carter sealing the peace deal
between Egypt and Israel in '79.
Carter's post-presidency is where he really shines, and he warrants every accolade we can throw
Daily Kos member 81380's way. It's astonishing what he's accomplished: from fighting diseases in Africa to building homes with Habitat for Humanity (dude's headed to freakin'
Nepal next month) to shining a damning spotlight on the terrible way women are treated around the world. And kudos for throwing the occasional jab at the right-wing freak show, as he did in his anger-tinged speech during the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington
in 2013:
Keepin' it real in badass shades.
"I believe we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the new ID requirements to exclude certain voters, especially African-Americans. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the Supreme Court striking down a crucial part of the Voters' Rights Act, just recently passed overwhelmingly by Congress. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to unemployment among African-Americans being almost twice the rate of white people and for teenagers at 42 percent. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to our country being awash in guns and for more and more states passing "stand your ground" laws. I think we know how Dr. King would have reacted to people of the District of Columbia still not having full citizenship rights.
And I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to having more than 835,000 African-American men in prison---five times as many as when I left office---and with one-third of all African-American males being destined to be in prison in their lifetimes."
His motto at the Carter Center says it all:
"Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope." Today he's fighting his own disease---the (effing) cancer that, if he has anything to say about it, will be eliminated with all the tenacity and efficiency as the
eradication of guinea worm disease in which he played such a major role.
Happy birthday, Jimmy. In the pantheon of Most Excellent American Role Models, you own a prime piece of real estate.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, October 1, 2015
Note: That's hogwash and I can prove it! [Washes hog with it.] See? Told ya.
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8 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til open 2016 enrollment for Obamacare begins:
31
Days 'til the
Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival in Texas:
8
Increase in August consumer spending:
0.4%
Number of iPhone 6s units sold since they went on sale Friday, breaking the previous record of 10 million:
13 million
Duration so far of the House Select Committee on Benghazi activities:
72 weeks
(Source: House Democrats)
Latinos surveyed for an NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo poll who want a Democrat/Republican elected president in 2016:
51%/24%
Amount Shell Oil spent to come up empty in the Arctic, an amount that barely made a dent in their petty cash drawer:
$7 billion
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Did you know that it is quite possible not to hate someone and at the same time notice their policies are disastrous for people in this country? Quite a thought, isn't it? Grown-ups can actually do that---can think a policy is disastrous without hating the person behind it. Lyndon Johnson comes to mind: a great president who was disastrously wrong about Vietnam.
Imagine how startled I was to find myself cited in a column by David Brooks, the new conservative at The New York Times, whom I had rather liked for his reasonableness, as a "Bush-hater" and someone who "knows less than the KKK does about the NAACP." Holy cow.
---October 2003
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Puppy Pic of the Day: And after the ride I assume they get dropped off at the choo-choo toy gift shop…
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As you can see, the tea party
caucus hasn't picked out their
Halloween costumes yet.
CHEERS to October. Busy month ahead! Fall kicks into high gear for leaf-peepers and cider-lovers; the first Democratic candidates debate arranged by DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz happens at 2am in a Las Vegas broom closet on the 13th; Barack and Michelle Obama celebrate their 23rd anniversary Saturday; It's LGBT History Month and the 11th is Coming Out Day…plus it's also ex-gay awareness month during which we all reflect on how there aren't actually any ex-gays to be aware of; we re-open the "Columbus was a hero/Columbus was a genocidal maniac" debate; Canada throws out its conservative government on the 19th; United Nations Day is the 24th; Daylight Saving Time for European Union countries ends on the 25th; Republicans pick a new House Cat Herder; and a High Holy Day for gays (and, according to unsubstantiated rumors, small children)---Halloween---looms large. This year I'm dressing up as the scariest person I can think of: President Mike Huckabee. Heads-up, pancreas---here comes another ten-pound bag of candy corn!
JEERS to the vast right-wing conspiracy: 2015 edition. The Republican party is getting so old and so white and so bereft of relevance to the governance of this country that all they can think of to occupy their time is lie, cheat, obstruct, gerrymander and fulfill their duties with all the ethics of a snake oil salesman. Exhibit A: likely post-Boehner Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's admission on Fox News:
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping," McCarthy said.
Hillary is scheduled to testify before the committee on October 22nd. Given how McCarthy just blew the whole sham's cover, I expect she'll come prepared with a few notes and a big ol' grin.
JEERS to your government not hard at work. Boy howdy, Congress really earned its paycheck yesterday---assuming its paycheck is zero dollars---as legislators fired up all their collective brain cells and, with all the strength and resolve they could muster, passed a measure that will keep the United States funded...for a whopping 60 days. They would've tried for 61 but they were afraid Louie Gohmert's head would start smoking and fill the chamber with the smell of burnt cabbage again. They hate it when that happens.
CHEERS to the fool fooling the fools. The punditocracy proves once again that they're basically a bunch of clueless keyboard peckers who should get out of the tea-leaf-reading business. After declaring umpteen times that Donald Trump's candidacy is sputtering, Donald Trump's candidacy has continued merrily not sputtering. After seeing the latest poll, you can make that umpteen and one:
Still yooj.
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has strengthened his lead at the top of the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll while two other outsider candidates, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, have gained ground over rivals with electoral experience. Jeb Bush, who two months ago was second to Trump in the USA TODAY survey, has tumbled to single digits and fifth place. … [Trump] continues to lead the field at 23%, up 6 points from the July survey. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, and Fiorina, an ex-CEO, tie for second at 13%.
Trump, by the way, is speaking to Fox News again after ending his latest manufactured boycott. His next tantrum and breakup is penciled in for October 14. We hear he might even throw a chair.
JEERS to missing the mark. After hearing that clerk Kim Davis sat down with Pope Francis for a little gratuitous gay-bashing last week, the Homosexual Hurricane Retribution Center summoned their powers to turn tropical storm Joaquin into a Cat-3 beast and send it right through Davis's backyard in Rowan County, Kentucky. Unfortunately it looks like someone got distracted and sent it towards North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and New England instead:
Sorry about that. We're a little rusty.
JEERS to today's cars. Call me a nostalgic fool, but none of them have the simplicity or the...um...blackness of the Model T, which was introduced 107 years ago today. Cost: $825. Place in automotive lore: priceless.
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Ten years ago in C&J: October 1, 2005
CHEERS and JEERS to Round 2. A federal judge ordered that 87 photos and 4 videotapes of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib be released to the public. Says Judge Alvin Hellerstein: "My task is not to defer to our worst fears, but to interpret and apply the law, in this case, the Freedom of Information Act, which advances values important to our society, transparency and accountability in government." True...but we're not looking forward to seeing more of what's been done behind the prison walls in our name. (Hint: it ain't hopscotch.)
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And just one more…
CHEERS to people who don’t suck. Every Friday our C&J poll asks, "Who won the week?" It has become such an extraordinary weekly polling event that Gallup, Pew, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac and PPP have all named commodes in their washrooms after it. The WWTW poll is a little reminder that all is not lost on the third planet from the sun. And right on schedule, the gold chalice winners for the third quarter of 2015 are ready to take a collective bow. The envelopes, please…
July 3 Bree Newsome, who climbed the flag pole in front of the South Carolina state house and took down the Confederate flag.
July 10 Team USA for winning the Women's World Cup soccer championship.
July 17 President Obama: gets his Iran deal, commutes drug offender sentences, 1st president to visit federal prison, designates new national monuments.
July 24 President Obama: U.S. Embassy opens in Havana, visits Kenya, finalizes plan to close Gitmo, jobless claims at 42-year low.
Each of our WWTW winners will take
home this beautiful Samsonite luggage.
July 31 Bernie Sanders, for hosting 3,500 house parties across the country and CNN poll showing him beating all GOP candidates.
August 7 Jon Stewart, for 16 years as host of The Daily Show.
August 14 Bernie Sanders: draws 28k in Portland and 27k in LA; National Nurses United endorsement.
August 21 Jimmy Carter, for facing his cancer diagnosis with his characteristic honesty, grace and courage
August 28 Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Chris Norman, who subdued the armed gunman on that French train and were awarded the Legion of Honor.
September 4 Federal Judge David Bunning, for throwing KY Clerk Kim Davis in jail for contempt.
September 11 President Obama: signs executive order granting paid leave for employees of federal contractors; gets enough Dem senate support to green-light Iran nuke agreement without a vote.
September 18 Texas teen Ahmed Mohamed, whose treatment by school officials and police for bringing a homemade electronic clock to the school led to an outpouring of support and an invitation to the White House.
September 25 Pope Francis, for his U.S. visit.
Who will bring home the gold in the fourth quarter? If I had to predict, I'd say probably not Donald Trump, ISIS or Congress. Stay tuned!
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
“Cheers and Jeers is a fact-free zone. Bill in Portland Maine just says things.”
---Carly Fiorina
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