From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Evenin'.
Last night we had a little power outage kerfuffle thingy here, so C&J wasn't posted. But things are back to normal, so I thought I'd pop in with a mini version of last night's post, including our world-famous "Who won the week?" poll.
I'll kick things off with a blast from the past. From four years ago we present: Barack Obama: The 2008 C&J Three-Hankie Interview. I think it's a great reminder of just what we saw in the skinny guy with the funny name, and why he deserves to (and will) win re-election in a landslide. Enjoy:
Cheers and Jeers: Thank you so much, Senator, for sitting down with us today. I know Daily Kos readers are eager to hear more details about the issues that affect them. First, let me just get a sense of the election. Can we really win this thing?
Barack Obama: Yes we can!
One thing you've talked a lot about on the stump is agriculture. Do you ever grow your own vegetables and preserve them?
Yes. We can.
Will you fire the incompetent cronies that populated the Bush administration for the last eight years after you take office in January?
Yes. We'll can.
On a lighter note, you and Michelle both danced separately on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Do you ever dance together?
Yes, we cancan.
Is there anything in particular that'll keep Sasha and Malia occupied when you're trying to concentrate in the Oval Office? I mean, besides sending them upstairs to do their homework?
Yes. Wii can.
I'm a little nervous. May I take a potty break?
Yes. Pee, man.
[Three minutes later...]
I have an email here from the Abominable Snowman: "Senator Obama, can you redouble America's efforts to protect our wilderness areas?"
Yeti, we can!
If you could create the new bumper sticker slogan for your opponent, what would it say?
"Yes We Can't!"
Do you have a favorite film festival you like to follow?
Yes! Oui! Cannes!
What do you say to your detractors in the media, who say you can't be an effective president because of all the crises facing the country?
Press, we can!
You and the family seem to enjoy spending time at the beach. Is that true?
Yes. We clam.
What will be going through your mind when your head hits the pillow the night you learn you're the 44th President of the United States?
Yessssssss! We ran!
And then the Secret Service cut the interview short. Apparently 329 fist bumps is one fist bump too many.
Your west coast-friendly edition of Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Saturday, November 3, 2012
Note If you need 'em: DisasterAssistance.gov.....Red Cross.....Fema.gov.....A Moment of Zen.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Election Day: 3
Days 'til the Downtown Pomona Chalk Art Festival: 7
Rainfall and snowfall, respectively, in Easton MD and Gatlinburg TN, the towns with the highest recordings of them during Superstorm Sandy: 12.55" / 34"
Minimum number of flights that were canceled as a result of the storm: 19,000
(Source: The Portland Press Herald)
Percent chance of President Obama winning re-election, according to Nate Silver's latest statistical model: 81%
Percent of Americans who said they were following pro football in, respectively, 2010 and 2012: 53%, 59%
(Source: Harris Interactive)
Copies of Taylor Swift's new album "Red" that were sold during its first week of release, the most for any album in 10 years: 1.2 million
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Friday Joe Lieberman Wanker Walk Countdown:
Joe Lieberman will end his Senate reign of error in 62 days.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: A little help from his friend…
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CHEERS to getting an extra hour of sleep. Daylight Saving Time ends in a mere handful of hours at 2am. (Yes, you must stay up 'til 2am to change your clocks or else DST won’t end properly and you'll have to throw all your clocks out and start over, according to the American Clock Sellers Association.) It's the usual routine: If you're a Democrat, turn your clocks back one hour. If you're a Republican, turn your clocks back 50 years.
Apparently Polk also had
an irrational fear of vampires.
CHEERS to Ol' Mullethead. Happy 216th birthday (yesterday) to
James K. Polk, the only Speaker of the House to become president. (Sorry you won’t be the second, Newt, but at least you snagged South Carolina last spring and killed the old adage that whoever wins there clinches the nomination Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Loser.) Despite protests from some members of Congress, he "exaggerated" his way into a war with Mexico (something about the "smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom burrito"). But he definitely walked the walk while he was in office. In the book
Rating the Presidents, over 700 historians and political scientists rank Polk 11th-best:
Polk's outstanding success was no accident. He assiduously planned his moves and carried them through to fruition. Former president Harry Truman summed it up in his own concise way in 1960. When asked what he thought about Polk, he replied, "A great president. He said exactly what he was going to do and he did it." Quite an achievement for a president of any era.
Yeah, but a few months after he left office he was dead at 53. Consider that a heads-up, workaholics.
On yesterday's date in 1948:
Dewey defeated Truman. Heh.
CHEERS to a very bad day for the GOP. Speaking of election history, 76 years ago today, on November 3rd, 1936, FDR was re-elected in a landslide over Alf Landon by---get this---
523 electoral votes to 8. Twenty eight years later Lyndon Johnson beat Barry Goldwater 486-52. And 28 years after that Bill Clinton dispatched George H.W. Bush by a less-substantial but still impressive 370-168 margin. Grand total: 1379 to 128. Takeaway message: revenge is a dish best served lopsided. Be afraid, Mitt. Be very afraid.
CHEERS to home vegetation. Here's a few of the haps on TV this weekend. The NFL schedule is here. Louis C.K. hosts SNL, which should be pre-election awesomeness. New DVD releases include an AMAZING 15-movie anthology of Alfred Hitchcock classics, and---just in time for Election Day---Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis in The Campaign. MSNBC will have special election programming all weekend, including a special Rachel Maddow Show tomorrow night. On 60 Minutes: Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell give each other wedgies as they discuss why the Senate is hopelessly broken.
Don’t forget to the best weekend morning shows, Up! With Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris-Perry. And here's your pre-election Sunday morning lineup---let's see how well-rounded their guest rosters are shall we? Yes, let's…
Meet the Press: David Plouffe; Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA); roundtable with Savannah Guthrie, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and bottom-scrapers Mike Murphy, Joe Scarborough and crotchety old austerity hawk Tom Brokaw (Remember when he was the hippie host of the Today Show?) Guest composition: 6 men, 1 woman. 6 whites, 1 black, 0 Latino. 4 right, 2 left.
This Week: David Plouffe vs. Ed Gillespie; roundtable with George Will, Cokie Roberts, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, and Ron Brownstein. Guest composition: 5 men, 2 woman. 6 whites, 1 black, 0 Latinos. 3 right, 2 left.
Face the Nation: Roundtable with Peggy Noonan, David Gergen, Rich Lowry, Dee Dee Myers and John Dickerson; more roundtable with pollster Anna Greenberg, Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez, Stu Rothenberg, and Larry Sabato. Guest composition: 5 men, 4 woman. 9 whites, 0 black, 1 Latino. 4 right, 3 left.
Fox GOP Talking Points Sunday: Romney campaign's Rich Beeson and Obama campaign's David Axelrod; roundtable with Brit Hume, Jeff Zeleney, Joe Trippi and Karl Rove. Guest composition: 6 men, 0 woman. 6 whites, 0 black, 0 Latino. 3 right, 2 left.
Final tally: 22 men, 7 Women. 26 whites, 2 blacks, 1 Latino. 14 right-leaning, 9 left-leaning. Or, as the corporate-political-industrial complex calls it:
perfectly balanced. Happy viewing!
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Four years ago in C&J:
Obama with grandparents Stanley
and Madelyn ("Toot") Dunham.
CHEERS to the legacy of "Toot." Condolences to the family and friends of Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who
passed away Monday at 86. If there is any silver lining to be found in her departure a mere day before her grandson's historic victory, maybe it's this:
"She passed away confident that he would succeed. ... Maya and Barack want to ensure everyone that she died peacefully knowing what the situation was and content that she had given
everything to him."
Barack and his sister request that, "In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer." Done.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to this thing you Earthlings call...politics. As the last grains of sand slip from the top of the 2012 election hourglass to the bottom, a few words of wisdom from a few wise wordsmiths:
"Feel like bowling?"
"Ten-pin, nine-pin, duckpin or candlepin?"
"Candlepin."
"Nah."
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
---H.L. Mencken
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
---George Bernard Shaw
"Politics is like football. If you see daylight, go through the hole."
---John F. Kennedy
"There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail."
---Will Rogers
"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other"
---Oscar Ameringer
"The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'."
---Larry Hardiman
"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap."
---Napoleon
"The American political system is like fast food: mushy, insipid, made out of disgusting things---and everybody wants some."
---P.J. O'Rourke
Yeah, but with a sprig of parsley it's kinda tasty.
Hope you're having a tolerable weekend. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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