Cheers and Jeers for Monday, February 21, 2011
Note: Kudos to three excellent books for providing the fodder for today's POTUS quiz: To the Best of My Ability edited by James McPherson, Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents by Cormac O'Brien, and Anything for a Vote by Joseph Cummins.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Republicans decide whether or not they're going to shut down the government: 11
For our C&J fans up nawth: Days `til the College Admissions Preview and Rainbow Ball Weekend at the University of Maine at Machias: 46
Percent of Americans who say government programs don’t help their families: 54%
Percent of American families who received benefits from federal programs in the past two years so they could be helped: 70%
(Source: Harper's Index)
Percent of Americans who said they trusted Fox News last year: 49%
Percent of Americans who say they trust Fox News now: 42%
(Source: Public Policy Polling)
Unspent earmark money approved for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games that's still sitting in limbo: $2.6 million
(Source: USA Today)
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NEW! "Meet Me in Minnesota!"
Brought to you by the Netroots Nation '11 convention in Minneapolis June 16-19. The Minneapolis Convention Center boasts two 100,000 SF exhibit halls, 87 meeting rooms, a 3,400-seat auditorium, and a newly remodeled kitchen. And this is cool:
The solar array on the rooftop of the MCC is connected directly to the facility’s internal electrical system, producing 750,000 kWh of renewable electricity per year – the equivalent of powering 85 homes. It will offset 539 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The 600 kW system is made up of 2,613 panels installed at an angle on the flat portions of the roof and are not visible from the street level. This largest solar electricity array in the Upper Midwest has been in use since November 2010. … On average, we recycle 2.2 tons [of trash] per month. … 95 percent of cleaning products are Green Seal certified.
Not that they'll need much in mid-june. We're a very tidy bunch.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Governor Brown's new enforcer.
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CHEERS to keeping up the fight. I don’t know if Governor Walker saw this coming or not, but he seems to have basically grabbed a hornet's nest with both hands and shoved it up his ass. And why? Because the Koch Brothers paid him to. Keep your eyes on the diaries today for breaking updates. In the meantime, I'll single out Paul Krugman's column for putting this union-busting stunt in stark perspective:
There’s a bitter irony here. The fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, as in other states, was largely caused by the increasing power of America’s oligarchy. After all, it was superwealthy players, not the general public, who pushed for financial deregulation and thereby set the stage for the economic crisis of 2008-9, a crisis whose aftermath is the main reason for the current budget crunch. And now the political right is trying to exploit that very crisis, using it to remove one of the few remaining checks on oligarchic influence. So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t.
And in other upheaval news, all the Arabian countries are now in various states of citizen-fueled birth-of-democracy-or-something-like-it pangs. The world---she is angry.
JEERS to the king of activist judges. Atrios wonders if this guy isn’t the worst person in the world---"perhaps literally":
A former juvenile court judge [Mark Ciavarella] was convicted Friday of racketeering in a case that accused him of sending youth offenders to for-profit detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in illicit payments from the builder and owner of the lockups. [...]
The judge, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, saying he ran his courtroom with "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.
Essentially, like a pied piper with a gavel, he made a business enterprise out of throwing kids---their guilt or innocence apparently of no consequence---into a for-profit prison and getting paid under the table for it. Wow---I always wondered who would knock the banksters from their perch atop the Truly Despicable Wall of Shame. And despite showing zero mercy for those kids---kids!---who came before his bench, Mr. Ciavarella was granted the freedom to come and go as he pleases pending sentencing. Justice for all? Hardly.
CHEERS to freedom feasting. Saturday afternoon a dozen Kossacks gathered like vultures at the Portsmouth Brewery to, as we do from time to time, collectively peck the eyes out of the carcass of tyranny...and then do a little shopping. Our deep-winter DKos/C&J meetup included Brillig, Mayim (all the way from PA), Commonmass, Simple, Common Sense Mainer, Sardonyx, Danno11, DtheO, Nhox42, Debbie in ME. Thestral, Vacationland, and yours truly. Hot topics of discussion: the Draft Elizabeth Warren for Senate movement, the protests in Wisconsin, the pros and cons of DK4, the weak GOP prez roster, and how to keep our human sacrifice ceremony from getting leaked to the press. By the way, if you or someone you know is planning a Kossack meetup in your neck of the woods, let me know so I can give it a shoutout. Together we can take over the world…one plate of fish 'n chips at a time.
(Moderate) CHEERS to one of the less-odious members of the crazy birther party. Happy Birthday to Republican Senator and fellow Mainer Olympia Snowe (seen here, I believe, during her guest stint on Hollywood Squares), who turns 64 today. And we have the perfect gift for her---something she's never had before: tea party attack dogs gearing up to nip at her shins. I hope she's up on her rabies shots.
JEERS to the Apostrolypse. To help solve the mystery of how, exactly, one spells today's holiday, I consulted the ads from inside a few recent editions of The Portland Press Herald:
Rowe (car dealer): President's Day
L.L. Bean: Presidents' Day
The Black Dog: President's Day
Vic's Appliance: Presidents' Day
Bill Dodge (car dealer): President's Day
LP Furniture: Presidents' Day
Macy's: Presidents Day
Crockett Furniture: Presidents' Day
Berlin City: Presidents' Day
Prime Nissan: Presidents Day
Norman-David Auto: President's Day
Hub Furniture: Presidents' Day (last year they spelled it President's Day)
Cabot House: Presidents Day
Pape Chevrolet: President's Day
Hammond Lumber: Presidents' Day
Lee Auto Mall: President's Day
Sports Authority: Presidents Day
Radio Shack: President's Day
Cole Farms : President's Day
JCPenney: Presidents' Day
America's Mattress: Presidents Day
State Street Discount: President's Day
Glad we cleared that up.
CHEERS to the return of the Jedi. Not much more to say on this one other than, Welcome back, Dood Abides. Weeeeeeeee…missed you.
CHEERS to monumental achievements. On February 21, 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated. Not many people know this, but forensic pathologists now believe it's shaped exactly like George's tallywacker. Which might explain why Martha never smiled.
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Five years ago in C&J: February 21, 2006
CHEERS to the latest Bush P.R. nightmare. In a move that has jaws dropping through red states and blue, the Bush administration plans to put operations of several major U.S. ports in the hands of the United Arab Emirates. Perception is reality, and this makes as much sense to the average American as Kim Jong Il taking the reins of the U.S. Navy. Ya just never know where the next blunder will come from with these guys.
JEERS to Mary's monstrosity. Millions of Americans didn't hear a word Mary Matalin said on Meet the Press Sunday because we were fixated on a large metal flower she (with help from a crane) hoisted onto her Imperial Cruiser uniform. By the end of the day all the insect hospital beds were full of bees with busted stingers.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to gittin' along with the one that brung ya to the dance. Drinking starts early today as we celebrate the anniversary---Number 53!---of Kossacks Mcmom and Old Timer, aka the matriarch and patriarch of the McCarter clan, including DKos's indispensable front-pager, McJoan. A few years back I asked Joan what her parents' secret to stayin' sweet on each other for over half a century was. She said, "Complete political compatibility doesn't hurt, along with true affection and respect. But probably most of all, it's stubbornness (which runs in the family)." And the gift for 53 years of marriage? 53 years of marriage, I'd say.
Okay, let's get this week started. If we must. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"This whole idea that Bill in Portland Maine is the leader of our country is a mistake."
---Sen. Jim DeMint
2/17/11
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