From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Assorted Words of Wisdom for 2016 Grads
“In a year when politicians traffic in anti-immigrant rhetoric, there is also a Broadway musical reminding us that a broke, orphan immigrant from the West Indies built our financial system. A story that reminds us that since the beginning of the great unfinished symphony that is our American experiment, time and time again, immigrants get the job done.”
---Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda, UPenn
"I was beaten, yes, several times, left bloodied, but I didn’t give up. I didn’t become bitter. The way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence is a much better way. And it doesn’t matter whether we’re black or white, Latino, Asian American, or Native American. It doesn’t matter whether we’re straight or gay, bisexual, transgender. We are one people, we are one family, we are one house. We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters."
---Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis (D-GA). Washington University in St. Louis
"It's good to be here, after nearly a year in space. It's good to be anywhere with gravity. Although most of you don't appear to be aliens, I come in peace."
---"Year in Space" Astronaut Scott Kelly, University of Houston
"When we don’t vote, we give away our power, disenfranchise ourselves---right when we need to use the power that we have; right when we need your power to stop others from taking away the vote and rights of those more vulnerable than you are---the elderly and the poor, the formerly incarcerated trying to earn their second chance. So you've got to vote all the time, not just when it’s cool, not just when it's time to elect a President, not just when you’re inspired. It's your duty. When it’s time to elect a member of Congress or a city councilman, or a school board member, or a sheriff. That’s how we change our politics---by electing people at every level who are representative of and accountable to us. It is not that complicated. Don’t make it complicated."
---President Obama, Howard University
“Heck, on my day of graduation, I never imagined I would visit foreign countries. I never imagined I would be a commencement speaker. I never imagined I would get into a Twitter war with Donald Trump. ... How’s this speech polling so far? Higher or lower than Donald Trump’s unfavorable numbers with women?”
---Elizabeth Warren, Suffolk University
Congrats and happy world changing!
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Note: Today is the next-to-last day to take advantage of a special $50 Daily Kos discount on registrations for Netroots Nation '16 in St. Louis (July 14-17). When you go to the page, just pick the registration level you want and then click "Apply" at the bottom where you see the promo code DAILY KOS. Click here to claim your discount. Offer ends at midnight tomorrow. But don’t wait 'til then---when Nolan Treadway turns back into a pumpkin it's not pretty.
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til the primaries in CA, ND, SD, NM, NJ and MT: 13
Days 'til the Columbus Arts Festival in Ohio: 16
Number of fake credit cards used to scam $13 million from ATM machines across Japan: 1,600
Percent of Arizona residents who have a negative view of the Grand Canyon, according to PPP polling: 2%
Amount of time the White House was locked down for over the weekend because some party balloons got loose: 10 minutes
2016 season batting average of Boston's David "Big Papi" Ortiz at age 40: .329
Number of consecutive games this season during which the Red Sox have hit at least one home run: 23
-
Mid-week Rapture Index:
182 (including 3 occults and 1 Joan Rivers-murdering First Lady). Soul Protection Factor 16 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
-
Puppy Pic of the Day:
I thought puppy bowling was outlawed in Goat Land…
-
CHEERS to Ho Chi Mingling. President Obama wraps up his visit to Vietnam today, which by all accounts was another rousing overseas success. (Pics via The Obama Diary here.) I don’t expect you to watch all 31 minutes of his speech at the National Convention Center in Hanoi right now, but it's definitely worth a look when you get some time. (You can read the transcript here.) It's a masterful acknowledgement of our on-again, off-again, on-again relationship, and a smooth seminar on Democracy 101. Almost makes me wonder if he shouldn’t be President Clinton's Secretary of State:
Here's his schedule for today. Please keep in mind that because of the time difference, our today is two weeks ago in Vietnam:
The President will meet with U.S. consulate staff and family members. Afterward, the President will participate in a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) town hall. In the afternoon, the President will depart Vietnam en route Ise-Shima, Japan, where he will remain overnight.
And now a final tweet from Vietnam showing that, even overseas, Obama remains distant and aloof and all upper-crust hoity toity:
And yadda yadda yadda impeach.
CHEERS to the birthday legislator! Everybody ive a warm C&J rubber-ducky "Quack!" today for Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who turns hrffrhrrr years old today. What has she done lately? Glad you asked…
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that bipartisan legislation that she has backed to aid law enforcement in tracking sex offenders passed the Senate this week.
The Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act would help improve tracking of sex offenders through federal support of state registries and dedicated resources to target offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements. Today, Klobuchar took to the Senate floor to discuss this important legislation.
“As a former prosecutor, I know the importance of sex offender registries in equipping our law enforcement officers with every tool available to prevent sex crimes,” said Klobuchar.
“This commonsense bill will ensure that state and local law enforcement officials continue to have the federal resources and assistance they need to keep our communities safe from perpetrators with a history of crimes against children. Now that the Senate has passed this bill on a bipartisan basis, the House should do the same.”
In her honor, as you no doubt noticed when you walked in here with a towel around your waist, we've filled the kiddie pool with hearty cream of chicken and wild rice soup. Wonderful exfoliant for the tootsies.
CHEERS to the visionaries. On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding. They came to blows over their first order of business, but after much chair-throwing and cane-beating, they finally agreed: We hereby resolve that Cheesesteak shall not be considered Cheesesteak without Cheez Whiz. It was mostly smooth sailing from there.
CHEERS to not freaking out. This doesn’t exactly provide cover for Democrats, but Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says having eight members for awhile ain't no big thing:
Breyer, speaking at the Annual Burton Awards Ceremony at the Library of Congress, said he researched the number of times in the past when the court didn't need a ninth vote to reach a decision, and said it would've only made an impact in a few cases of the 70 to 80 that they hear each year.
"See, we're unanimous 50% of the time. And 20% of the time, we're 5-4," Breyer said, explaining that he did not feel the Supreme Court was diminished without an immediate fill-in for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died earlier this year. "And so I said, 'How many cases are there that Nino's vote would have made a difference? I think there were four or five."
And Breyer put a finer point on it: If there's a 4-4 stalemate, it will just means the Supreme Court won't overstep its bounds. The decision of the lower court is upheld when the Supreme Court stalemates.
Which is really just Breyer’s long-winded way of saying there's now an extra doughnut available every morning and it's mine mine mine!!!
JEERS to putting lipstick on a pig: TSA edition. Keeping in mind that TSA screeners routinely fail "test runs" to locate terroristy bomby and bang-bangy thingeys in people's luggage anyway, this doesn’t seem particularly useful, but whatever:
The Transportation Security Administration plans to post nearly up-to-the-minute wait times at the frenzied checkpoints in the largest airports through its MyTSA app by mid-June. […]
The move comes after passengers complained of exceedingly long lines---up to 3 hours in some cases---at major airports across the country in recent months, ahead of the even busier summer travel season.
"The idea is to pull real-time data, hour by hour, airport by airport, of what we're seeing for volume," Neffenger told USA TODAY. "I want to get as near real-time as possible."
In other words, TSA is making it easier for people to show up at the airport pre-pissed. Hooray, said the in-flight liquor industry.
CHEERS to anniversaries worth remembering. Lest Democratic election strategists forget, here's a little reminder that not only have Republicans threatened to end Medicare as we know it, they've actually voted on it. In fact, it was five years ago today that 40-out-of-45 GOP senators voted for the House budget that included turning Medicare into a system of health care coupons (aka "Ryancare"). TPM called the vote a "bloody walk into a Medicare buzzsaw." Since then Republicans have scaled back their plans. Now they just want to issue one coupon: "Good for One Free Case of Voter Amnesia."
-
Ten years ago in C&J: May 25, 2006
CHEERS to expected guests. This buh-log better be sparkling clean by Sunday. The YearlyKos convention gets a write-up in the New York Times Magazine which means a lot of new visitors will be dropping by. Don't forget to wash behind your ears Saturday night (and, um, does anyone have a girdle I can borrow? Mine burst the other day. Killed a seagull.)
-
And just one more…
JEERS to Bill in Portland Maine: SCOFFLAW!!! The call came yesterday morning after I'd delivered meals to the elderly but before I'd headed off to volunteer at the orphans center, saved a kitten from a tree, put out a house fire with nothing but my own urine and tackled a gang of bank robbers. I was busy sorting clothes to take to Goodwill, so I let the answering machine pick up. This is the actual transcript of the message they left:
"Hello! There is an arrest warrant on your name regarding tax fraud.
So before this matter goes before the federal claims courthouse---or before you get arrested---kindly call us back at 206-539-5261. I repeat: 206-539-5261.
Thank you and have a blessed day."
If you need me for anything today, you'll find me panic-crawling through swamps and briar patches to Canada. Please: someone remember to feed the elderly.
Have an amazing Wednesday that slices your week in half with no muss, no fuss and no sticky residue for just three easy payments of only $19.95!!! Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"This is the first 3D-printed Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool in the world, and it's not just a pool, it has fully functional open bar and candy corn dispenser. We believe this is just the beginning."
---Mohamed Al Gergawi
-