Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 25, 2025 · 4:13 PM PDT

2025/04/25 · 16:13

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

“The Best Idea We Ever Had...”

Happy conclusion of National Park Week. Yellowstone was #1 in 1872 (Thank you, U.S. Grant), and we've been adding 'em ever since.

"The establishment of the National Park Service is justified by considerations of good administration, of the value of natural beauty as a National asset, and of the effectiveness of outdoor life and recreation in the production of good citizenship."

— Theodore Roosevelt —

Acadia National Park (w/ Bass Harbor Lighthouse)—Maine

"The parks do not belong to one state or to one section. The Yosemite, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are national properties in which every citizen has a vested interest; they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of Arizona."

— Stephen Mather, NPS director 1917-1929 —

“Every national park has its own unique story to tell, yet so much of our nation’s shared heritage can be found in the towering forests and vast desert expanses that make up our National Park System. The outdoors has also proven to be a welcome refuge during the pandemic. I encourage everyone to enjoy the beauty and wonder of our national parks safely and responsibly.”

— Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland —

A few more pics here. (Be sure to hoist your middle finger at the nasty little disclaimer at the top.) Please note that the C&J kiddie pool is not considered an official national park. But the paperwork has been submitted. Now comes Step 2: convincing Kos to stop un-submitting it.

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

665 votes Show Results

Who won the week?

The millions of "Hands Off!" protesters who filled streets and squares around the country to voice outrage at Mad King Dampnut and his evil minions

Immigrant rights, as the Supreme Court calls a halt to deportations without due process

The more than 7 million Canadians who set a record during early voting, and the Liberal party for holding a solid lead going into election day (Monday)

Karma, as six MAGA security goons in Idaho are charged with battery (and other offenses) for dragging Teresa Borrenphol out of a town hall meeting

Federal Judge Royce Lamberth, for ordering the Trump administration to rehire all Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Network staff and put them back on the air

Second bites at the loser apple, as Sarah Palin's defamation case re-trial against the New York Times goes down in flames

The Vatican, for taking advantage of JD Vance's publicity-stunt Easter trip there by rapping him on the knuckles with a ruler for being an un-Christian, immigrant-hating weirdo

The legacy of the Minutemen, as the skirmishes at Lexington ("The shot heard 'round the world") and Concord mark their 250th anniversary

The power of the consumer boycott, as Tesla's net income plunges like a cybertruck in a shallow stream, forcing Elon Musk to sell 137 of his 4,576 children for quick cash

Judge Joanna Seybert, for sentencing "tearful" pathological liar George Santos to the maximum 7+ years in prison for wire fraud & I.D. theft

665 votes Vote Now!

Who won the week?

The millions of "Hands Off!" protesters who filled streets and squares around the country to voice outrage at Mad King Dampnut and his evil minions

295 votes

Immigrant rights, as the Supreme Court calls a halt to deportations without due process

80 votes

The more than 7 million Canadians who set a record during early voting, and the Liberal party for holding a solid lead going into election day (Monday)

39 votes

Karma, as six MAGA security goons in Idaho are charged with battery (and other offenses) for dragging Teresa Borrenphol out of a town hall meeting

32 votes

Federal Judge Royce Lamberth, for ordering the Trump administration to rehire all Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Network staff and put them back on the air

49 votes

Second bites at the loser apple, as Sarah Palin's defamation case re-trial against the New York Times goes down in flames

5 votes

The Vatican, for taking advantage of JD Vance's publicity-stunt Easter trip there by rapping him on the knuckles with a ruler for being an un-Christian, immigrant-hating weirdo

41 votes

The legacy of the Minutemen, as the skirmishes at Lexington ("The shot heard 'round the world") and Concord mark their 250th anniversary

19 votes

The power of the consumer boycott, as Tesla's net income plunges like a cybertruck in a shallow stream, forcing Elon Musk to sell 137 of his 4,576 children for quick cash

82 votes

Judge Joanna Seybert, for sentencing "tearful" pathological liar George Santos to the maximum 7+ years in prison for wire fraud & I.D. theft

23 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Thursday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 24, 2025 · 4:50 AM PDT

2025/04/24 · 04:50

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

A Timely Pluck From the C&J Archives

I’m just a lapsed Episcopalian (agnosticism is my bag now, hep cats), but I can say with relative certainty that the late Pope Francis is the only pontiff who has given a TED talk.

I stumbled on that forgotten fact yesterday via an ancient C&J circa April 2017 when, like now, our country’s wrecking-ball-in-chief was making it clear that, in his mind, billionaires rule and everyone else drools. Francis had a few DEI-friendly words for the pillager class that are worth revisiting as he goes to his great reward and the rest of us continue going up against the worst of humanity intent on driving us into submission by any means necessary:

"How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion. How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us. How wonderful would it be if solidarity—this beautiful and, at times, inconvenient word—were not simply reduced to social work and became, instead, the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices, as well as in the relationships among individuals, peoples and countries.

“Your successor, Mr. Biden, he is...um...”
”Crazy, your Holiness.”
”Yes...quite cray-cray.”

“People's paths are riddled with suffering, as everything is centered around money and things, instead of people," he said.

"And often there is this habit, by people who call themselves 'respectable,' of not taking care of the others, thus leaving behind thousands of human beings, or entire populations, on the side of the road."

"Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility.

Please, allow me to say it loud and clear: The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly. If you don't, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other."

His lips to God's ears. (Which, if the rumors hold true, hang low and wobble to and fro.)

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

539 votes Show Results

Does it surprise you that the latest poll from Fox News has Trump's approval on the economy at a record low (6-in-10 think he sucks at it)?

539 votes Vote Now!

Does it surprise you that the latest poll from Fox News has Trump's approval on the economy at a record low (6-in-10 think he sucks at it)?

Yes

79 votes

452 votes

Not sure/No opinion

8 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 23, 2025 · 4:49 AM PDT

2025/04/23 · 04:49

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Previews of Coming Attractions

Via The Daily Show, it’s time to pop some popcorn and settle in for all your old-and-improved MAGA-friendly celluloid classics:

The Trump-approved Whiterion Collection: your favorite films minus the DEI!
— The Daily Show (@thedailyshow.com) 2025-04-21T16:35:14.878Z

Coming soon: you won’t believe what they’ve done with the flicks in black and white.

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

497 votes Show Results

Which party/leader would get your vote to lead Canada in Monday's election?

497 votes Vote Now!

Which party/leader would get your vote to lead Canada in Monday's election?

The Liberal Party/Mark Carney

414 votes

The Conservative Party/Pierre Poilievre

2 votes

Block Quebecois/Yves-François Blanchet

1 vote

New Democratic Party/Jagmeet Singh

11 votes

Other

0 votes

Not sure/No opinion

69 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 22, 2025 · 4:49 AM PDT

2025/04/22 · 04:49

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Things I Pledge to Do for Mother Earth

Today is the 55^th Earth Day, an event we celebrate every year to remind ourselves that we do not, in fact, have to be the biggest parasites on the third rock from the sun. We choose to be. Unlike the other parasites, we know what we're doing to this planet…and how…and why…and the kinds of things we must do to stop turning it into a ball of uninhabitable human-made garbage. (Awful as it was, the pandemic providing a fascinating glimpse of the cleaner planet we used to know.) To mark the occasion, this year I pledge to...

☼ Save water by enlisting the cat to teach me how to switch over exclusively to tongue baths.

☼ Encourage "teachable moments" by pointing at people drinking out of plastic water bottles and yelling into a bullhorn, "You resource-sucking energy whore, you're killing us!!!" And then angrily throw an educational pamphlet at them.

☼ Restrict my use of "fracking" to its handiness as an adjective paired with the word "idiots" to describe people who displease me.

See, this is the problem with plants. They grow to monstrous size and punch holes through the delicate ozone layer.

☼ Contribute to healthy forests by teaching the red-hatted cultists that watering trees "with the blood of tyrants" actually kills them. Fracking idiots.

☼ Rent a chopper and drop thousands of large plastic bins over the city to remind people that Portland, Maine recycles. (And fill them all with loose change to remind people that recycling also saves money!)

☼ Fart only on odd-numbered days. (This one will be tough. I may need to attend support group meetings to stay on the wagon.)

☼ Vote for Democrats.

☼ Continue not interfering with the coal industry’s timely demise.

☼ Retrofit our car with hybrid technology so it only runs on gas when the team of kittens gets too tired to pull it.

☼ Clone a grand army of Greta Thunbergs in my lab. Or, to be more precise, continue cloning an army of Greta Thunbergs in my lab.

☼ Dispose of my spent fuel rods properly instead of selling them to children as glow sticks.

In short, as an inhabitant of this spectacular planet, I'll continue to try and treat it with the respect it deserves by following the Four Rs: "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Reelect Democrats."

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

481 votes Show Results

Have you seen Homeland Security director Kristi Noem's purse containing her meds, ID badge, and 3,000 bucks in cash that was stolen from right under her nose?

481 votes Vote Now!

Have you seen Homeland Security director Kristi Noem's purse containing her meds, ID badge, and 3,000 bucks in cash that was stolen from right under her nose?

Yes

30 votes

99 votes

Maybe. Is there a reward?

352 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Monday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 21, 2025 · 4:50 AM PDT

2025/04/21 · 04:50

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Monday Twain Blogging

Mark Twain, a man whose bullshit detector went to 11, died 115 years ago today, on April 21, 1910. A year earlier he wrote:

I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'

More Twain:

"Always respect your superiors; if you have any."

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

“Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.”

“Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.”

"Travel is fatal to prejudice."

"It is not best that we should all think alike; it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races."

“Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.”

“Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.”

“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.”

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”

He was anti-slavery, pro-women's rights, clear-eyed about religion, and a big supporter of labor unions. Occasionally humorous, too. Pay your respects here.

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

586 votes Show Results

Relative to other popes who reigned during my lifetime, I consider the achievements of Francis's papacy to be...

586 votes Vote Now!

Relative to other popes who reigned during my lifetime, I consider the achievements of Francis's papacy to be...

Above average

469 votes

Average

48 votes

Below average

5 votes

Not sure/No opinion

64 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Marshmallow Peeps FRIDAY!

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 18, 2025 · 4:14 PM PDT

2025/04/18 · 16:14

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Late Night Snark: “This Fascism Goes to 11” Edition

“Trump’s done a lot of the standard fare: he’s attacked the free press, pulled random people off the streets, made law firms and universities bend the knee, announced Department of Justice investigations against people whose sole crime was suggesting that the 2020 election had been safe and well-administered. You know...the bad, bad people.”

—Jon Stewart

“You’re a dictator! All you have to do is dictate that he gets out of prison, then go on Orbitz and get him a one-way ticket to Maryland, and his torture will be over! As long as you don’t fly him on Spirit Airlines.”

—Stephen Colbert, speaking through the TV at El Salvador's Nayib Bukele

“What is happening here? I mean, this is America. We don’t just send someone to prison without evidence. We plant the evidence on them. It’s called due process.”

—The Daily Show's Ronny Chieng

x
I’ve been getting them for years, but lately, getting emails that say stuff like “TELL DEMS IN CONGRESS TO…” is particularly disheartening, because if those people need me to tell them what to do, it’s already too late.
— Andy Richter (@andyrichter.co) 2025-04-09T15:42:04.948Z

-

"According to a new report, President Trump privately acknowledged that his tariffs could trigger a recession, but chose to issue a 90-day pause because he didn’t want to cause a depression. 'Too late,' said therapists."

—Seth Meyers

”Just hours before Trump paused the tariffs, he he tried to calm investors by posting: ‘Be COOL! Everything is going to work out well.’ Be cool? This is the global economy. It’s not like we got too high and we’re trying to get through dinner with our parents.”

—Colin Jost, SNL

Clip of Trump at the NRCC: I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are dying to make a deal. 'Please, sir, make a deal. I'll do anything.'

John Oliver: Sure. I'm sure some have been pretty nice to him, the same way you'd try to be nice if you suddenly found yourself in the same room as a monkey with a gun. 'Hi, monkey! Good monkey! Strooong monkey! Please, I'll do anything!'

—Last Week Tonight

“And who better to determine what colleges should and should not be doing than the man who had to shell out $25 million in penalties for running a fraudulent university he named after himself? My money’s on Harvard. I grew up in the 80’s. I saw Revenge of the Nerds. I know who wins these things.”

—Jimmy Kimmel

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

692 votes Show Results

Who won the week?

Towana Looney of Alabama, who helped expand kidney research by going 130 days with a genetically-altered pig kidney before going back on dialysis

Harvard University and Cornell, the latest schools to push back against the demands of our education-hating dictator and his tiny brain

Democrat Allison Riggs, who appears poised to win her North Carolina state Supreme Court seat after election officials lowered the original number of disputed votes by nearly 70 percent

Judge James Boasberg, for finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt for refusing to return migrants from a torture prison in El Salvador

The attorneys at the Justice Department who are choosing to resign with their dignity rather than drink Pam Bondi's Kool-Aid and be forced to defend the crooked and corrupt Trump administration

Maine Governor Janet Mills, for not backing down from Trump's threats to cut off all federal funding to the state over a Title IX dispute…and winning the first round in court

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, for traveling to El Salvador to secure a meeting with his constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was illegally kidnapped by ICE and sent to prison there

The astronomers at Cambridge who discovered that planet K2-18b---124 light-years from Earth---might be habitable planet that Elon Musk and all his DOGE bros should immediately go explore

Rory McIlroy, for winning the final trophy in his career grand slam with a win at The Masters

692 votes Vote Now!

Who won the week?

Towana Looney of Alabama, who helped expand kidney research by going 130 days with a genetically-altered pig kidney before going back on dialysis

5 votes

Harvard University and Cornell, the latest schools to push back against the demands of our education-hating dictator and his tiny brain

141 votes

Democrat Allison Riggs, who appears poised to win her North Carolina state Supreme Court seat after election officials lowered the original number of disputed votes by nearly 70 percent

20 votes

Judge James Boasberg, for finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt for refusing to return migrants from a torture prison in El Salvador

138 votes

The attorneys at the Justice Department who are choosing to resign with their dignity rather than drink Pam Bondi's Kool-Aid and be forced to defend the crooked and corrupt Trump administration

27 votes

Maine Governor Janet Mills, for not backing down from Trump's threats to cut off all federal funding to the state over a Title IX dispute…and winning the first round in court

54 votes

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, for traveling to El Salvador to secure a meeting with his constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was illegally kidnapped by ICE and sent to prison there

279 votes

The astronomers at Cambridge who discovered that planet K2-18b---124 light-years from Earth---might be habitable planet that Elon Musk and all his DOGE bros should immediately go explore

18 votes

Rory McIlroy, for winning the final trophy in his career grand slam with a win at The Masters

10 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Thursday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 17, 2025 · 4:50 AM PDT

2025/04/17 · 04:50

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Clap Harder, People. Clap Harder.

Via Colbert, the answer to all our prayers over the death of the economy...

YouTube Video

He sure has a tiny wand. (Snork!)

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

511 votes Show Results

In what form do you prefer your Easter chocolate?

511 votes Vote Now!

In what form do you prefer your Easter chocolate?

In bunny form

25 votes

In egg form

38 votes

In any form that contains chocolate

448 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 16, 2025 · 4:49 AM PDT

2025/04/16 · 04:49

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

For the One Millionth Time

Via Jon Stewart, this is your country on The Art of the Deal:

Sure, Trump wrote "The Art of the Deal," but has anyone read chapter nine?
— The Daily Show (@thedailyshow.com) 2025-04-11T16:34:52.156Z

Stay tuned for the one million and oneth time—coming soon!

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

496 votes Show Results

Did it make you proud to be an American when JD Vance toppled OSU's national basketball championship trophy and it clattered to the ground with soul-shattering "Ga-sploink"?

496 votes Vote Now!

Did it make you proud to be an American when JD Vance toppled OSU's national basketball championship trophy and it clattered to the ground with soul-shattering "Ga-sploink"?

Yes

70 votes

125 votes

This is the third option

301 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 15, 2025 · 4:51 AM PDT

2025/04/15 · 04:51

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Our Blogging Continues After This Message…

Attention billionaires!

Are you looking for a convenient way to celebrate Easter while also protecting your precious financial assets? If so, here's good news! Now you can arrange a one-on-one consultation with The Onepercenter Bunny!

That's right. The Onepercenter Bunny—your fluffy and confidential partner in asset relocation! This crafty little lagomorph knows just where to stash the eggs in your financial basket. Barbados, the Bahamas, the Caymans, the British Virgin Islands. And don’t forget those nifty little lock boxes in— yodelayheehoo!—Switzerland!

The Onepercenter Bunny will hide your wealth in the safest tax havens so you can keep more of it for the things that matter to you most: buying politicians and duping the most gullible commoners into voting against their self-interest so you can make even more money for the Onepercenter Bunny to hide. It's win-win!

Let the socialist, entitlement-obsessed Easter Bunny re-distribute his silly eggs among the moocher class. With the Onepercenter Bunny in your corner, you'll be saying: "Hippity Hoppity ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching I just bought out the entire egg industry and got Congress to repeal all the egg industry safety laws!"

To contact the Onepercenter Bunny, just make an outrageous statement that gets splashed across the media about how billionaires in America are the real victims of oppression. We'll be in touch.

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

472 votes Show Results

How did your income taxes shake out this year?

472 votes Vote Now!

How did your income taxes shake out this year?

I owe

171 votes

Getting a refund

187 votes

Filing for an extension

46 votes

Screw taxes

49 votes

Not applicable, as I am not a citizen of your banana republic

19 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Monday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 14, 2025 · 4:49 AM PDT

2025/04/14 · 04:49

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

The Week Ahead

Monday The details revealed in today's breaking Trump administration scandal are so heinous, evil, and incompetent-yet-calculated that analysts predict they'll dominate the news cycle for weeks.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lunatic announces that any country imposing tariffs on the United States will first have to pay a 125 percent tariff tariff. And if they balk at that, he’ll impose a tariff on the tariff tariff.

Tuesday Today is the day you need to make sure you've sent enough money to the IRS to pay your income taxes. If you're in the top one percent, today is the day you need to make sure you've sent enough money to the Cayman Islands to dodge your income taxes.

The details revealed in today's Trump administration scandal are so heinous, evil, and incompetent-yet-calculated that analysts predict they'll wipe yesterday's scandal off the map and dominate the news cycle for weeks.

All week: the MAGA economic strategy continues.

Wednesday The two-week House recess continues. As Democratic members of Congress step up to lead town hall meetings in red districts, Republican members of Congress declare town hall meetings DEI, woke, communist, inflationary, deficit-creating, un-American, and anything else they can think of to justify the reason they're tweeting from a broom closet in their basement.

The details revealed in today's Trump administration scandal are so heinous, evil, and incompetent-yet-calculated that analysts predict they'll wipe yesterday's scandal off the map and dominate the news cycle for weeks.

Thursday A conservative podcaster apologizes for comparing LGBTQ people to Hitler, vowing that in the future he’ll only compare them to George Soros. Stephen Miller reluctantly calls the director of ICE to cancel his kidnapping and deportation to a torture prison.

The details revealed in today's Trump administration scandal are so heinous, evil, and incompetent-yet-calculated that analysts predict they'll wipe yesterday's scandal off the map and dominate the news cycle for weeks.

Friday All the U.S. markets are closed today for Good Friday. Thank Christ, says every investor tied up in the markets.

The spring fiddlehead forecast is released and, once again, experts are torn between "sauteed" and "pickled."

The details revealed in today's Trump administration scandal are so heinous, evil, and incompetent-yet-calculated that analysts predict they'll wipe yesterday's scandal off the map and dominate the news cycle for weeks.

Saddle up. Let’s get this foolishness over with by suppertime.

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

477 votes Show Results

What are you going to miss most when Republicans steal them from us?

477 votes Vote Now!

What are you going to miss most when Republicans steal them from us?

Social Security

333 votes

Medicare

144 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 11, 2025 · 4:15 PM PDT

2025/04/11 · 16:15

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

Late Night Snark: Tariff Him A New One Edition

“It’s been one week since Donald Trump announced his bold plan to destroy the economy, and guess what? It’s working! … Trump is out of control right now. I’d say he’s like a bull in a china shop, but at 104 percent I can’t afford to say that.”

—The Daily Show's Desi Lydic

”President Trump announced tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S., saying that the U.S. has been ‘plundered and raped’ by other countries. And Trump will not stand for plundering.“

—Michael Che, SNL

“RFK Jr., seen here watching a chicken sneeze on a baby...”
—Colin Jost, SNL

“China said the tariffs are ‘a mistake on top of a mistake,’ which is also what Trump said when Eric was born.”

—Jimmy Kimmel

“According to new analysis by the Washington Post, President Trump has spent one-third of his days in office at golf courses, and I think we might be better off if we can somehow get that up to three-thirds.”

—Seth Meyers

“So your theory is we’ll get our factories back but they’ll only have jobs for robots. So you’ll be broke, but at least your Roomba will be able to afford to send its kids to college.”

—Stephen Colbert, on the Commerce Secretary’s boast that America’s economic renaissance will involve a new robot-based workforce to screw “little screws” into iPhones.

“Trump wants a full military parade for his birthday. It’s nice to know the money we saved cutting the CDC, Social Security, and the Department of Education went towards throwing a child’s birthday party. There will be tanks, fighter jets, and our most dangerous weapon: a self-driving Tesla.”

—Jimmy Fallon

And now, our feature presentation...

Poll

739 votes Show Results

Who won the week?

The 500+ law firms that came out in support of Perkins Coie's lawsuit against Trump's order targeting the firm over its representation of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign

The clean power revolution, as the world used green energy sources to meet more than 40% of its electricity demand last year for the first time since the 1940s

Federal Judge Trevor McFadden, for ordering the White House to restore full access for the Associated Press to cover administration events, because---duh---freedom of the press and all that

The more than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations, planned by over 150 groups, that covered the country including the National Mall, state capitols and other locations in all 50 states

Those pesky gamers who ragged on fake "top gamer" Elon Musk during a live Saturday night game of "Path of Exile 2," causing him to rage-quit a livestream because he couldn't keep his character alive

Karma, as a judge rules that MAGA propaganda outfit Newsmax defamed Dominion Voting Systems by accusing them of rigging the 2020 election, a decision that could cost Newsmax $1.6 billion

Innocent Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as the Supreme Court unanimously orders Trump's immigration idiots to return him from the El Salvador gulag to which he'd been illegally deported

Acting IRS head Melanie Krause, for resigning from her post rather than give in to the DHS Nazis demanding taxpayer data so they can kidnap more legal residents at gunpoint and send them to torture prisons

The scientists who were awarded the Breakthrough Prize (aka "The Oscars of Science"), including David Liu for his work on new gene editing tools, and Alberto Ascherio & Stephen Hauser for their work on B cells to battle MS

739 votes Vote Now!

Who won the week?

The 500+ law firms that came out in support of Perkins Coie's lawsuit against Trump's order targeting the firm over its representation of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign

82 votes

The clean power revolution, as the world used green energy sources to meet more than 40% of its electricity demand last year for the first time since the 1940s

53 votes

Federal Judge Trevor McFadden, for ordering the White House to restore full access for the Associated Press to cover administration events, because---duh---freedom of the press and all that

24 votes

The more than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations, planned by over 150 groups, that covered the country including the National Mall, state capitols and other locations in all 50 states

402 votes

Those pesky gamers who ragged on fake "top gamer" Elon Musk during a live Saturday night game of "Path of Exile 2," causing him to rage-quit a livestream because he couldn't keep his character alive

17 votes

Karma, as a judge rules that MAGA propaganda outfit Newsmax defamed Dominion Voting Systems by accusing them of rigging the 2020 election, a decision that could cost Newsmax $1.6 billion

27 votes

Innocent Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, as the Supreme Court unanimously orders Trump's immigration idiots to return him from the El Salvador gulag to which he'd been illegally deported

76 votes

27 votes

31 votes

Cheers and Jeers: Thursday

Bill in Portland Maine

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 10, 2025 · 4:49 AM PDT

2025/04/10 · 04:49

Cheers and Jeers is a weekday post from the great state of Maine.

The Wind Beneath the New Deal's Wings

She was born on April 10, 1880 in Boston, but her ancestral roots were in Maine, where she spent much of her downtime and was laid to rest (in Newcastle) in 1965. Her strict parents wanted her to be a teacher and live at home, but Frances Perkins had other plans. Bearing witness to how badly the employed and unemployed alike were treated, she made it her life's mission to do something about it. Her smarts and tenacity led her to the position where, with the full backing of her boss, she stitched together the American social safety net we have today:

When, in February, 1933, President-elect Roosevelt asked Frances Perkins to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of Labor, she outlined for him a set of policy priorities she would pursue: a 40-hour work week; a minimum wage; unemployment compensation; worker’s compensation; abolition of child labor; direct federal aid to the states for unemployment relief; Social Security; a revitalized federal employment service; and universal health insurance.

FDR signs Social Security into law, with Frances Perkins looking on behind him.

She made it clear to Roosevelt that his agreement with these priorities was a condition of her joining his cabinet. Roosevelt said he endorsed them all, and Frances Perkins became the first woman in the nation to serve in a Presidential cabinet. […]

Within a month of Roosevelt’s inauguration, Congress enacted legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, which Roosevelt asked Perkins to implement. ...

Before Roosevelt presented his final One Hundred Days legislation to the Congress, the National Industrial Recovery Act, Perkins convinced him to allocate $3.3 billion for public works from the moneys appropriated. Serving as a member of the Special Board for Public Works, Perkins helped to ensure that money was spent on socially useful projects: schools, roads, highway, housing projects and post offices. Public works construction employed a many as 1.5 – 2 million people in 1934.

FDR's dynamic duo: Frances Perkins and Eleanor.

In 1934, Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins to head a Committee on Economic Security, where she forged the blueprint of legislation finally enacted as the Social Security Act. Signed into law by the President on August 14, 1935, the Act included a system of old age pensions, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation and aid to the needy and disabled. … In 1938, Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act, also crafted with the support of Perkins, establishing a minimum wage and maximum work hours and banning child labor. [...]

In 1944, a piece portraying Frances Perkins in Collier’s magazine described her accomplishments over the previous twelve years as “not so much the Roosevelt New Deal, as … the Perkins New Deal.”

Today the Labor Department HQ in Washington—assuming Elon Musk hasn’t stolen it yet—is called the Frances Perkins Building. And in a sign of just how popular and durable her Social Security idea has become, President Joe Biden got safety net-hating Republicans to pledge, openly and publicly on national TV during his 2023 and 2024 State of the Union address, not to touch it during budget negotiations. (Moments they now assuredly regret, given how badly they want to ruin it.)

So this morning we say Happy Birthday #145 to Frances Perkins, the champion of workers' rights and retirees whose policies gave body to the Democratic party's soul. And many blessings on your camels.

And now, our feature presentation...

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