Cheers and Jeers for Friday, August 29, 2008
Note: John McCain is not prickly. He's simply impatient, petty and explosive.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the Christmas: 118
Days `til the Paul Bunyan Bluegrass Music Festival in Bangor: 7
Number of revamped iPhones sold in the first month: 3 million
Days it took the original iPhone to sell that many units: 74 days
(Source: Fortune via The Week)
Cost to stay a night in the refurbished Presidential Suite at the Kahala Hotel & Resort on Oahu: $8,888
(Source: USA Today)
Estimated minimum revenue the Democratic convention brought in to the Denver area: $160 million
Number of people who tuned in to watch Obama's speech last night: 38 million
(Source: Nielsen)
And from the Department of Hopeless Security:
Days the color-coded federal terror alert system has been in place: 2,369
Days spent at terror alert level Blue or Green: 0
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Puppy Pic of the Day: "I ain’t dropped no atom bombs, but sometimes I drops poopies."
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CHEERS to stark contrast. During the 2004 Democratic convention, it seemed like our party's slogan was, "Let's Keep Our Powder Dry." This year it seemed to be, "You May Fire When Ready, Gridley!" Michelle was perfect. Ted was perfect. Hillary was perfect. Bill was perfect. Joe was perfect. Obama was perfect. The unity bounce was sweet. The whole thing was a platter of GOP-smashing red meat with a basket of progressive-idea fries and a side of Americana pie. It was Rope-A-Dope. It was a colossal fake-out. And the best the wounded, shell-shocked Republicans could do was criticize the columns. (Then again, when your party is made up of white, calcified stonefaces that advocate ancient ideas, I guess I can't blame 'em for taking umbrage.) Good pageant, kids. You should take it on the road.
CHEERS to hitting back hard. As the convention was sucking up all the oxygen, the Obama campaign was quietly shifting it's smear-fighting machine into high gear:
[W]hat the Obama campaign did---essentially ruin a wingnut radio show intended to help launch a smear into legitimacy, by getting loads of people to call in and abuse Kurtz for being a creep---was brilliant hard-nosed politics ... It's using wingnut and Freeper weapons against them, and you know what? It's about goddamn time.
Next stop: Limbaugh's switchboard?
JEERS to the dark side. It won’t surprise anyone here, but there was plenty of backroom wheeling and dealing going on in Denver between our party's leaders and the fat cats...and they didn’t want anyone sticking their nose in the tent. Says Jonathan Turley:
ABC News should earn accolades for engaging in serious journalism in Denver: detailing how the party elite has been feted by an array of high-priced lobbyists at expensive parties. One of its reporters, however, was roughed up and arrested when he tried to take pictures of the democratic leaders and their donors. In the meantime, Democratic leaders have said nothing in response to the complaints over the conspicuous consumption of lobbyist dollars at the convention.
That's not entirely true. Harry Reid fumed about the "appallingly small" jumbo shrimp, Diane Feinstein found the cigars "loosely packed," and Bill Nelson said the line to the Mad Cash Flow Cube was "insanely long." Cue the violins.
CHEERS to things you can see from space. Seventy two candles were set ablaze on John McCain's birthday cake today. But instead of us getting him a present, he got us one:
"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. [She] shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.
I'm not quite sure, but judging from what everyone's saying on my teevee, I believe his running mate's name is Sarah Who.
P.S. Congratulations, Republicans, for choosing a woman to share the ticket a mere 24 years after Democrats did. What's your hurry?
JEERS to adults who prove every day they're not smarter than a fifth-grader. Steve Doocy of---you guess it---Fox News says Sarah Who is a fantastic choice for vice president. He thinks she's got the chops she needs to handle foreign affairs because... Um, because... Because Russia is in her backyard. Which I guess means that if McCain wins, Steve Doocy will be a shoo-in to be appointed Ambassador to Pluto.
CHEERS to taking the choo choo. Good news: more people are flocking to ride the rails as gas prices rise. Bad news: increased ridership is straining Amtrak. How this ends could be either good or bad, depending on what voters do in November:
Senate Democrats introduced legislation this year that would authorize Amtrak to borrow nearly $3 billion to spend on replacing railcars. The bill would also direct $400 million in gas taxes each year to expand capacity. The Bush administration has sought to scrap direct federal funding for Amtrak.
November's presidential election could be pivotal. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama says he would fight for Amtrak funding while seeking reforms. His Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, has in the past sought to block subsidies for Amtrak.
Choose wisely, Grasshopper. (coughvote for theskinnyblackguycough). Oh, and speaking of trains...
CHEERS to seeking alternate routes. Traveling on Amtrak or by bus over the Labor Day weekend because you’re fed up with fighting traffic and airport gridlock? You're not alone.
More Americans are expected to try alternative modes of transportation such as a train or bus. Those numbers are seen jumping 12.5%. "More travelers concerned about the economy, gasoline prices and rising airfares are opting to travel by train, bus, motorcycle and cruise ship to their holiday weekend destinations," said Robert L. Darbelnet, president of AAA.
And don’t forget, kids: no matter how you get from Point A to Point B, "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" is still your parents' faaaaavorite traveling song, so be sure to sing it often and all the way through!
CHEERS to the amazing life of Del Martin (via Kossack Lineatus). She was born 87 years ago at a time when gay rights weren't even a gleam in anyone's eye. She was among the first to seek to change that:
Ms. Martin's crusading began in 1955, during an era in America known more for social conformity than for rebellion, when she co-founded a lesbian social-turned-political organization, Daughters of Bilitis, named after a 19th century book of lesbian love poetry.
This year, on June 16, she and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, were legally wed. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated. Theirs was among the first same-sex nuptials in California. "Her last act of activism was her most personal---marrying the love of her life," said Kate Kendell, a longtime friend of the couple and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Now, at age 87, she's gone to the big LPGA tournament in the sky. Our condolences to Phyllis, her family, and those gays and lesbians who benefited from her perseverance. Namely, all of them.
CHEERS to putting editors on notice. I hate seeing the Associated Press turn into a water carrier for the right. They are (or were) the backbone of the nation's news gatherers, and for decades could be counted on for fair and accurate reporting. Now that trust is draining away, thanks to a hack named Ron Fournier, who recently got appointed chief of the agency's new Bureau of Republican Cheerleading. Thankfully, people are noticing and complaining to their local papers...like the Portland Press Herald:
I trust that the Press Herald will proof some of The Associated Press articles that it picks up. Biased reporting by the AP is something that we cannot tolerate. Just the facts are all we need, not opinion. If I want that I read the op-ed pages. Please contact the AP and tell them that someone like Ron Fournier has no place reporting news like this; e.g., on Aug. 23: "Biden pick shows lack of confidence."
---Jay Seiler, Gorham
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Since when do the Republicans run The Associated Press? I guess since Ron Fournier became the new Washington AP bureau chief. I used to have some faith in AP reports. But after reading its biased rants against Democrats I have to question their objectivity. ... Please try to impress upon the AP that readers like myself just want to hear the news. We do not want slanted innuendo from their right-wing McCain supporter.
---Anne M. Rand, Portland
Not sure why they didn’t publish mine. Probably because it read, in its entirety: Thhppptptpthtt!!!. (Apparently spelling counts---I forgot a T.)
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C&J Flashback---2004 Democratic National Convention, Day...5???
Convention lineup includes: Rusty the confetti sweeper, Zell Miller.
CHEERS to Kerry's Cabinet. Last night our nominee said, "I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a secretary of defense who will listen to the advice of the military leaders. And I will appoint an attorney general who will uphold the Constitution of the United States." Easy there, big fella...can we handle that many radical changes at once?
JEERS to Balloongate. Convention producer Don Mischer:
"Jesus! We need more balloons. I want all balloons to go, goddammit. I want more balloons. What's happening to the balloons? We need more balloons. What the fuck are you guys doing up there?"
Send your `Get Well Soon From Your Heart Attack' cards to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, c/o Bethesda Naval Hospital.
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And just one more...
CHEERS to more Maher. Just in time to parse our convention (and preview the GOP's), Real Time with Bill Maher returns tonight at 11 on HBO. Last week he sat down with Larry King, and here's some red meat to whet your appetite:
"McCain is, y'know, another Bush in the sense we're getting another very detached, anti-intellectual president. There's a big vacuum when you have a president like that. ... I think when you get McCain you get the worst of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Old, forgetful, doddering, anti-intellectual."
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"It's hard to imagine a president being worse than Bush, but I could see McCain pulling it off. ... He doesn't get the most fundamental thing about this war, that it is our presence in that country that is the problem. He's OK with leaving troops in Iraq for a hundred years---he said this. He said, look, we have troops in Germany and Japan and South Korea. Yes, but they're not Muslim countries. What irks them is just our presence there. As long as we have troops in the heart of the Middle East, there will always be terrorist planners trying to kill us, young, Muslim men who want to kill us for doing that. So on that level, alone, I can't say he's better than Bush.
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Larry King: You've gotta be pleased by T. Boone Pickens. He was on this show for an hour, against oil addiction, in favor of wind power.
Maher: Yes. And that shows you where we are when an 80 year-old oil man has to show the government the way. Y'know, this guy gets it. I hate to be despairing, but again, when I hear two thirds of Americans are for oil drilling---oil drilling which is not going to improve anything at all... Oil companies and oceans never worked out so well before. In fact, the phrase that we have for things not going well together is actually oil and water.
He's a thinkuh, that one.
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It is an honor to labor for you. Have a great holiday weekend. See you back here on Wednesday (although we'll drop a little surprise in the diaries this weekend). Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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