From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
The Kossack Brain is a Fearsome Beast
The third quarter of 2016 has officially been vanquished by the evil time troopers and their leader, Sir Ticksalot. That means it's C&J number-crunching time. Every few months we post the results of some recent C&J polls (no relation to actual pollster polls, which means we pass the savings on to you) to give you a snapshot of our collective neural activity which, if we could bottle it, would probably violate several federal, state and local bottling laws. These are results from July through September, and the total number of votes each poll received is in parentheses:
• 77 percent of you believe George W. Bush is the worst post-WWII president, followed by Ronald Reagan at 9 percent and Richard Nixon at 5 percent. (7,856)
• After his first couple days on the campaign trail, 77 percent of you were impressed with Tim Kaine as Hillary's running mate, while 18 percent were unimpressed. (5,828)
• 51 percent watched "a lot" of the Democratic convention coverage, while 41 percent stuck with just the highlights and 8 percent watched none of it. (4,793)
• After five years on the job, 39 percent of you think the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is doing better than expected, while 9 percent think it's performing worse than expected. (3,454)
• 88 percent of you supported President Obama's August 3 decision to grant clemency to 214 non-violent drug offenders, the most granted in a single day since the early 1900s. (5,380)
• As far as climate change is concerned, 94 percent believe that it's not being talked about enough as an issue in the 2016 election. (3,205)
• If Hillary Clinton wins and Democrats secure a majority again in the Senate, will Republicans take advantage of the lame duck session to confirm Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court? 48 percent of you say yes and 48 percent say no. (5,386)
• After seven-and-a-half years at the helm of the Executive branch, 14 percent give the Obama administration an "A" for their record on climate change. 49 percent give it a "B" while only 3 percent give it an "F." (3,842)
• As far as presidential debate #1 was concerned, 57 percent of you said you planned to watch it (4,131), while 73 percent actually did watch it. (4,637).
• And if there was a taco truck on every corner, only 5 percent would have a problem with that. (4,150)
As always, we appreciate your participation in our C&J polls. To thank you, we'll be coming over later today to dip your house in pumpkin spice.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Note: If you're going to be in the southern Maine area on Saturday, October 22nd, please join the DKos crowd for another legendary New England Kossack Fall Meetup starting at noon. The place: The Farm Bar And Grille at 57 State Street in Kittery (just across the New Hampshire border). Great menu---big portions. To RSVP or get more info, email Kossack nhox42 at nhox42 [at] gmail.com. Hope you can make it!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the next presidential debate: 5
Days 'til the Bridgeville Apple Scrapple Festival in Delaware: 10
Percent of Americans who support and oppose, respectively, the death penalty, according to Pew Research: 42%, 49%
The last time support for the death penalty was as low as it is today: 1972
Number of people living in Maine: 1.33 million
Number of Mainers now living under drought conditions in the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor: 1.05 million
Minimum number of state voter registration sites that have been targeted by hackers in the last few months, according to AP: 20
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
Let's check in on the thoughtful commenters at Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller and see what's chafing their hineys this week:
"Trump need not worry about criticism of Bill, as Chelsea Clinton's father is really Webb Hubbell. Look at the pictures; the genetics is obvious."
"The winning issue for Trump is Hillary's plan to finish Obama's Muslim refugee invasion of this country with unvetted potential Islamic terrorists!! THAT is the main reason many people are against Hillary and Trump's putting a halt to this invasion is a winner for him!"
"If you want to see how the Left lives in fantasy land watch 2 minutes of CNN. Their headlines this morning was a rough week for Trump after having lost the debate. lol, they still don't realize that Trump won ever single poll out there on the debate "
"This is the Dickkkocrat MO, accuse you opponent of what you are actually guilty of. Pigllary does it all the time. Lets see the veterinary records of the DNC's diseased pig."
All together now: 1…2…3… Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day:
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CHEERS to the fisticuffs in Farmville. We've been so spoiled by Joe Biden. Really. The vice-presidential debates in '08 (vs. "In what respect, Charlie?" Palin) and '12 (vs. “So...thirsty...need...Water!” Ryan) were must-see TV because we all knew Joe Cool was going to chew 'em up and spit 'em out with an aw-shucks turn-of-phrase accompanied by his patented shit-eating grin. And so we enter tonight's VP tussle (9pm ET) with a bit less enthusiasm. Virginia's Longwood University (yes, it's in Farmville) is the site and Elaine Quijano of CBS News is the moderator. As for the candidates…
Tim Kaine describes himself as "boring." Mike Pence calls himself a “B-list Republican celebrity.”
Neither Kaine, 58, nor Pence, 57, had large national profiles when they were selected as vice presidential candidates. And both have been overshadowed by their well-known---and polarizing---running mates.
As a result, polls show more than one-third of voters don’t know enough about either to form an opinion.
Tonight the CNN real-time focus group tracker that streams across the bottom of the screen will show viewers at home how many people in the room think Pence is winning, how many think Kaine is winning, and how many have entered the REM stage.
CHEERS to the benchwarmers. The Supreme Court is back in session, and once again they're one justice shy of a full team (and in Sam Alito's case, a few cards short of a full deck). This is Day 202 since Antonin Scalia kicked the bucket, and also Day 202 since Senate Republicans vowed to shirk their constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on the president's replacement nominee. So, to review the current rules: if there's a 4-4 tie, the lower court ruling from whence the case came wins. Exhibit A:
The Supreme Court will not reconsider President Obama’s plan to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation…
In June, a deadlocked court failed to revive his stalled plan to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and give them the right to work legally in the United States. … The tie meant that a lower court’s decision that Obama probably exceeded his powers in issuing the executive action kept the plan from being implemented.
The court’s action affected about 4 million illegal immigrants estimated to be covered by Obama’s plan, which would have deferred deportation for those who have been in the country since 2010, have not committed any serious crimes and have family ties to U.S. citizens or others lawfully in the country.
Something to watch for this session: if Scalia's heartbroken BFF Clarence Thomas pipes up more often in attempt to channel the "voice" of the departed justice. If my sources are correct, he spent 30 minutes a day over the summer practicing his "argle bargles" and "jiggery pokerys" in front of a mirror.
JEERS to stupid Republican tricks. Pay attention kids, this is how you lose your senate seat in 40 seconds. Last night in New Hampshire, Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte debated with Governor and Democratic challenger Maggie Hassan. Ayotte, who has spent her entire campaign trying to pretend that her party's presidential candidate doesn't exist, was asked directly: is Donald Trump a role model for kids? Even though she has since tried to backtrack, this is gonna leave a mark:
We hear it took Mr. Ayotte several hours with a crowbar to untangle that human knot when she got home.
CHEERS to bright medals for bright minds. It's Nobel Prize Giving-Away Week---that most wonderful time of year when I can confirm that, relatively speaking, I'm one dumb-as-rocks sumbitch with a brain that resembles avocado dip past its sell-by date. The latest winner announced yesterday in the "Medicine or Physiology or Dessert Topping" category hails from Japan:
Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discoveries on how cells recycle their content, a process known as autophagy, a Greek term for “self-eating.”
It is a crucial process. During starvation, cells break down proteins and nonessential components and reuse them for energy. Cells also use autophagy to destroy invading viruses and bacteria, sending them off for recycling. And cells use autophagy to get rid of damaged structures. The process is thought to go awry in cancer, infectious diseases, immunological diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Disruptions in autophagy are also thought to play a role in aging. […] The process he studies is critical for cells to survive and to stay healthy.
When Donald Trump heard about the eating habits of cells he called them disgusting and said they'd never be crowned Miss Universe.
CHEERS to life the way it never was. On this date in 1957, Leave It to Beaver premiered on ABC. June Cleaver did housework in pearls, frilly dresses, and high heels. Or as I like to call it: Saturday morning at the BiPM household.
CHEERS to lovebirds with longevity. "Barack and Michelle...sittin' in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" President and Mrs. Obama celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary yesterday. To put that in perspective, that's longer than any of Donald Trump's, Rudy Giuliani's or Newt Gingrich's three marriages…or Rush Limbaugh's four. Here’s the happy couple with the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team last Thursday. Yes, POTUS is attempting a split...
By the way, the 24th-anniversary gift is a musical instrument, so the Obamas gave each other tiny violins to play in front of Republicans at Hillary's inauguration.
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Ten years ago in C&J: October 4, 2006
JEERS to the sultans of sleaze. Republican congressman Mark Foley, leader of the powerful House Irony Committee, said, "We track library books better than we do sexual predators" while attending a signing of the Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Now he's gone into hiding after getting caught measuring cups of flour for cake recipes penis sizes with underage congressional pages online. He blames the bottle. We blames the Foley.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to brewing a cauldron of hilarity. Can't let today go by without noting that this is the six-year anniversary of the day Republican tea party candidate Christine O'Donnell released an ad for her U.S. Senate run in Delaware with the most bizarre opening line of the 2010 election (or maybe any other, for that matter): "I'm not a witch!"
And yet, in an election year that saw a tidal wave of tea partiers swept into power, she managed to lose to a liberal Democrat (Chris Coons, doing a fine job and handily re-elected in 2014 with 56% of the vote) in a blowout of epic proportions. She may not have been a witch, but that was still quite a trick.
Have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
“For Democrats, it’s important for us to understand that whether or not we are able to achieve certain policy objectives is going to be primarily dependent on playing enough golf or drinking enough Scotch with Bill in Portland Maine.”
---President Obama
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