From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
What A Difference An Election Makes
Maine's Republican governor, 2018:
[Maine] Gov. Paul LePage (R) is supporting efforts by the Trump administration to open the Atlantic Coast, including waters off the coast of Maine, to oil and gas drilling.
LePage has fought the growth of renewable energy in his state ever since taking office in 2011 … During his two terms as governor, he has been one of the nation’s most outspoken climate deniers, targeting anti-pollution, clean energy and efficiency programs.
Maine's Democratic governor, 2019:
Gov. Janet Mills will speak before the United Nations General Assembly in New York [today] about Maine’s efforts to respond to climate change, becoming the first sitting Maine governor to address the international body. …
[H]er administration’s new action plan calls for an 80 percent reduction in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; jump-starting renewable energy; and assessing and addressing sea level rise, ocean acidification, and other impacts. […]
“We think it’s fantastic, and she’s earned a place on that platform,” said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, one of the state’s most influential environmental groups. “She’s made it clear she’s beyond just talk and that she’s about action, and action based on science.” […]
"With Washington’s failure to act, it’s now up to states like Maine to fight climate change head-on,” Mills said in a statement emailed to the Press Herald. “And we will not wait.”
Here endeth the lesson.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, September 23, 2019
Note: Welcome to our new alien readers recently freed from Area 51. On behalf of the C&J community, we'd like to say: Blorp blrt thup thup thup [Squishy sound for three seconds] Rrrtw op-op-op hrffffff. Please...help your tentacles to the doughnuts. —Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Weeks 'til Indigenous People's Day: 3
Days 'til Maine's Fryeburg Fair, held annually since 1851: 6
Estimated percent of birds that have vanished across North America over the last 50 years: 29%
Amount that boating, camping, skiing and other outdoor activities added to Maine's economy in 2017, representing 5% of the state's GDP according to the Bureau of Economic Activity: $2.9 billion
Number of states whose outdoor economy was higher: 2 (Hawaii, Montana)
Minimum number of Americans who have reported vape-related illnesses so far: 500
Percent chance Walmart is halting sales of e-cigarettes: 100%
Totally Random NFL Score
New England Patriots 30 New York Jets 14
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Another work week begins…
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CHEERS to the chilling season. This morning at 3:50 EDT the autumnal equinox got its groove on and stole summer's mojo. Right on cue the flannel shirttails are flappin' in the breeze and the trees are prepping themselves to become nature's end-of-year fireworks display—big-time this year in New England where, invoking Peggy Noonan's famous prediction that Romney would win the 2012 election, "all the vibrations feel right":
[M]eteorologist David Epstein [says], “If everything were to continue more typical, we’d see a longer season than last year, we’d see a more vibrant season than last year, and it would come on a little earlier than last year, which was so late,” he said.
In general, Epstein said he expects the first colors will appear in northern New England in the last week of September, with more developing in early October. “Then it starts to migrate southwards into central New England around Columbus Day, heading into just west of Boston when the Head of the Charles is going on and then in Boston just before Halloween, moving south from there,” he said.
Still, the transition to The Nippy Side does make everyday life more of a challenge. Biggest pain: putting on ten individual pairs of Gore-Tex toemuffs anytime the dog has to go out to pee. Here at the BiPM household we'll observe our usual solstice tradition: slurping a quart of steaming clam chowder from a dirty L.L. Bean boot, then offering a sacrificial piece of candy corn to the gods to thank them for the colder weather that makes the arguing neighbors next door finally shut their #!%*!! Windows. (Buffy is still really mad at Mitch for getting that text from Shauna.)
CHEERS to good omens. Don’t be surprised if the Democratic primaries attract record turnout next year. Thanks to the Putin puppet the electoral college installed in the White House a couple years back, Democrats are paying attention like never before, and champing at the bit to do what it takes to boot him in just under 14 months. According to Stan Greenberg's polling outfit…
The public push back against President Trump has produced a level of political engagement the country has never seen before, an elevated anti-Trump Democratic Party consolidated to support the Democratic nominee, whether it is Vice President Biden or Senator Elizabeth Warren. They are defeating Trump by 9 and 7 points respectively, with the president stuck at 41 percent, his [average] approval rating. Democrats are poised to push up the 8.6 percent Democratic margin [that we saw] in the 2018 mid-terms---a shattering result if achieved.
The percent who say they are “extremely interested” in the election (the percent choosing 10, the top point on a 10-rung ladder) has reached 80 percent, the highest point in the history of our polling.
The other 20 percent demonstrated their "interest" by chewing through the drywall. They were counted as 11's.
CHEERS to progress in two images. I would’ve written a thousand words for each, but they seem to do a pretty good job on their own living up to the old adage:
The Climate Strikes continue this week. As will the construction of the special circle in hell for fossil fuel company executives. (And don’t ask me how, but I’ll be damned if Satan didn’t get Mexico to pay for it.)
CHEERS to great moments in naval warfare. On September 23, 1779, during our War of Independence, Commodore John Paul George Ringo Jones, aboard the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard (named as a tribute to Ben Franklin) engaged the British man-of-war Serapis in the North Sea. It was during this battle that Jones uttered the immortal words, "I have not yet begun to fight." Less known was the response from his crew: "Wild guess: you're related to Steny Hoyer."
CHEERS to a familiar name in the upper chamber.
Obi-Wan: I don’t seem to recall owning a Senate seat before.
Luke: It claims to belong to someone named Kennedy?
Obi-Wan: Kennedy. Kennedy. Now that is a name I've not heard in a long time. A veddy long time.
But here we are. Joe Kennedy III—the sharp, outspoken grandson of RFK, million-dollar smile and all—announced over the weekend that he's running for Ed Markey's Senate seat in 2020, setting up a primary battle between two popular progressives in Massachusetts:
The Massachusetts Democrat spoke to supporters gathered in a community center during a kickoff event in East Boston, where the Kennedy clan first settled after arriving from Ireland well over a century ago. […]
Asked how he differs from Markey, Kennedy ticked off a series of issues he supports including getting political action committee money out of politics, creating term limits for Supreme Court justices and abolishing the Electoral College. But he declined to criticize Markey directly. “Senator Markey is a good man,” he said. “This is going to be a tough race.” […] He has called for Congress to initiate impeachment efforts against Trump and has backed a “Medicare for All” bill in the House. He has also said he supports the Green New Deal initiative to combat climate change, something Markey is championing along with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York—who has endorsed Markey.
Given his political pedigree , Kennedy has been seen as a rising star in the party. In 2018, he was tapped to deliver the Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address.
I like what Ed Markey has done in the Senate. But I'll like what he does as President Elizabeth Warren's EPA director even more. Besides, the Senate needs a good progressive lectern pounder. And if we learned anything from Ted, Kennedys are adept at turning them into smoking piles of splinters.
JEERS to crazy Brits. It was during this week in 1761 that George III was crowned King of England. His ascension seems to mirror a recent one here on our side of the pond:
"It was a sad day for the British Empire when King George became its political master.
He was a man of narrow intellect, and lacked every element of the greatness of statesmanship.
'He had a smaller mind,' says the British historian, [Peter] Green, 'than any English king before him save James II.' He showered favors on his obsequious followers, while men of independent character whom he could not bend to his will became the objects of his hatred."
Sounds like a certain Jamaica, Queens-born jackass with a twitter addiction who hoisted his bloated carcass onto our own throne 32 months ago. Anyway, thanks for the colonies, G-3! But, as always, you can keep the kidney pudding. And the haggis. And Boris Johnson.
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Ten years ago in C&J: September 23, 2009
CHEERS to Kodak Moments. Well, this should be fun:
U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a joint meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to try to restart peace talks between the two sides, the White House said. The meeting---the first between the three men---will be held in New York, where the U.N. General Assembly takes place next week.
Here's what to watch for: if they split the check amicably at Spago, it's good news. If they dine 'n dash and then run around for a few hours playing Ding Dong Ditch, it's really good news.
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And just one more…
JEERS to the pooch who saved Tricky Dick. On this date in 1952, in perhaps the earliest demonstration of the power of political persuasion via the boob tube, Ike's VP candidate Richard Nixon delivered a milestone in televised ass-covering when he gave his famous Checkers speech on national TV. Talk about laying it on thick:
“I should say this, that Pat doesn't have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I always tell her she would look good in anything.
One other thing I probably should tell you, because if I don't they will probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gift, after the election.
A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog and, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Texas---black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, the six year old, named it Checkers.
And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it.”
Noting his blatant disregard for the law, the FEC hauled his ass off to jail, where he languished for 40 years and afterward couldn’t get elected to even a municipal sewer commisssion. [Poof!!!] Whoa. I just had the coolest dream.
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
"The other thing that’s helpful is not watching TV or reading Cheers and Jeers. Those are two things I would advise, if you’re our president, not to do. It creates a lot of noise and clouds your judgment."
—President Barack Obama
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