From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE
Now That We're Finally Alone…
All the Daily Kos administrators are sleeping off hangovers this morning after a night of pre-Netroots Nation partying in San Jose. So I finally have a few moments of unrestricted me-time to say some things I've been wanting to say for a long time (several minutes at least) without them breathing down my neck.
First, of course, is booger.
Second, chimps and baby pumas are conspiring to take over the world and I have proof:
Third, this pic of kos was taken yesterday:
Fourth, I bet you've never seen anyone do this with a pineapple:
[Offensive content removed. We're awake, Bill. --admin.]
And last, my prediction for 2016: President Hillary Clinton, VP Kirsten Gillibrand, Sec. of State Susan Rice, Sec. of Treasury Elizabeth Warren, and the nuns on the bus to fill out the rest of the cabinet.
There. I feel better.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, June 20, 2013
Note: Due to a scheduling error, summer starts both today and tomorrow. Impeachment proceedings have been filed against the president.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Minneapolis: 8
Days 'til the Wayne Chicken Show in Nebraska: 22
Percent of Germans who say they have confidence in President Obama to do the right thing in world affairs: 88%
Percent who had confidence in George W. Bush during his last year in office: 14%
(Source: Pew Research poll)
Number of sitting Republican senators who now back same-sex marriage: 3 (Kirk of IL, Portman of OH and Murkowski of AK)
Year during which the last billboard was torn down in Maine: 1984
Percent chance that the Men's Wearhouse "I guarantee it" guy can no longer guarantee it: 100%
Stanley Cup Finals:
Chicago Blackhawks 6 Boston Bruins 5
(Series is tied at 2 games apiece)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Meanwhile, the entire Department of Homeland Security is beginning to look like a Republican playground. According to The New York Times, over 90 former officials at DHS or the White House Office of Homeland Security are now "executives, consultants or lobbyists for companies that collectively do billions of dollars' worth of domestic security business." Now isn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
---June, 2006
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Hey…it's only money.
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CHEERS to Barackin' Berlin. After yakkety yakking it up at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, President Obama strapped on Jetpack One and flew to Germany, where he gave a speech in a giant aquarium (a German custom for dignitaries I'm not familiar with?) at the Brandenburg Gate. He spoke of lofty goals and dreams that have no chance of seeing the light of day as long as Congress remains broken. But it was stirring stuff, and also symbolic…
"Ich liebe Strudel!!!"
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Obama faced the East in contrast to Reagan's appearance when the Berlin Wall still divided the city. While the crowd was much smaller than the estimated 200,000 who jammed the area in 2008 to hear then Sen. Obama speak, people waved U.S. and German flags and regularly erupted in cheers and applause.
Near the front was Gail Halvorsen, known as the Candy Bomber for being the first to drop candy to kids during the U.S. airlift of 1948-49 that supplied West Berlin following a Soviet blockade. Obama paid tribute to that moment, noting that the 92-year-old Halvorsen, who he called "the original candy bomber," was present. "We could not be prouder of him," Obama said as Halvorsen stood and waved. The president added: "I hope I look that good, by the way, when I'm 92."
Nice shoutout. Very classy. And extra points for
invoking JFK's immortal 50-year-old words,
"Ich bin ein Berliner." Which according to my Google Translator app means, "I have a lovely bunch of coconuts." [
Wipes tear] So true.
CHEERS to orders in the court. OMG! OMG! OMG!!! (Like, seriously…again) The Supreme Court ruled on Arizona's voter-suppression law and Miranda rights Monday, and today they'll issue another ruling or two in a rare non-Monday judgment day. That means it's possible we may get the skinny on the fate of Prop. 8 and DOMA, both of which are expected to be victories---though limited ones---for marriage-equality. As usual, when the rulings are handed down, we'll catapult them to your house via printout attached to a boulder. For five bucks extra we won’t set it on fire first.
CHEERS to that picture that looks like an eagle flew into a window. On June 20, 1782, the Great Seal of the United States was finally adopted by Congress. They sure took their sweet time getting there:
The Great Seal includes the Eye of NSA
and an Eagle flying into a window.
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On July 4, 1776, the same day that independence from Great Britain was declared by the thirteen states, the Continental Congress named the first committee to design a Great Seal, or national emblem, for the country. Similar to other nations, The United States needed an official symbol of sovereignty to formalize and seal (or sign) international treaties and transactions. It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men before the Congress finally accepted a design (which included elements proposed by each of the three committees) in 1782.
It has 13 stars, 13 stripes, 13 arrows in the eagle’s talon, 13 letters in the mottos "e pluribus unum" and "annuit coeptis," 52 total letters on it (which is divisible by 13), 13 olive leaves, 13 olives on the branch, 13 levels in the pyramid, and 13 sides showing on the ribbon. But designer Charles Thomson stopped short of including a black cat walking under a ladder---that would've been considered unlucky.
CHEERS to preparations for 96 hours of madcap madness. Anticipation was high yesterday as finishing touches were made for the 8th annual Netroots Nation conference in San Jose. These pics by Steve Stearns of the swag bag assembly brought back memories of our hours spent on "the human conveyor belt" during previous conventions…
Today's event schedule
is here, and you can watch panels and keynotes from home
here via the Netroots Nation site. We also heard that the C&J-New Day dinner was a hit last night, and we're throwing virtual glitter and confetti at organizer Navajo, the Britannia Pub, and the decoys who helped keep the cops distracted during the getaway. Oops. I think I've said too much.
P.S. Your Netroots Nation forecast:
Thursday---Sunny and pleasant
Friday---See Thursday
Saturday---See Friday
Sunday---See Saturday
(Source: I dunno, weather people probably)
I hope you fair-skinned New Englanders remembered your parasols. Red looks better on lobsters.
JEERS to dopey Democrats doing dopey Democrat deeds. Given the whole NSA eruption, I thought it might be unhelpful-but-interesting to note that on this date in 2008, despite hearing flat-out shocking testimony by insiders, the House under Democratic leadership passed a bill that granted retroactive immunity to the giant telecommunications companies for their complicity in the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping activities. As constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley said at the time:
"This bill has, quite literally, no public value for citizens or civil liberties. It is reverse-engineering, the type of thing the Bush administration's famous for and now the Democrats are doing. That is, to change the law to conform to past conduct. It's what any criminal would love to do---you rob a bank, go to the legislature and change the law to say that robbing banks is lawful."
Personally, I think this is all Jimmy Carter's fault. If he hadn’t signed the original
1978 FISA bill that was designed to protect our civil liberties, none of this retroactive un-protecting of our civil liberties would be necessary. The paperwork alone is a nightmare!
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Five years ago in C&J: June 20, 2008
CHEERS to the start of the middle of the end of the end (I think). As of today, George Bush and Dick Cheney have exactly seven months left to finish destroying America from the inside out. I'm trying to think of the things they haven't gutted yet. All I can come up with is petting zoos. No wonder the baby goats look so nervous lately.
JEERS to coming down with a bad case of the stupids. In Massachusetts a husband and wife stockpiled 45 gallons of gas in their apartment building to stave off the effects of higher fuel prices. Turns out that a funny thing happens when the fumes from nine plastic jugs of gas in a closet meet a spark from an air-conditioner: it burns!!! I knew this whole heterosexual marriage thing would be dangerous. I knew it!
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And just one more…
CHEERS to moving in the right direction. Michael and I have gone to five Netroots Nations (so far), and I always walk around the convention hall with an autograph book so I can annoy the bejesus out of the same people year after year by asking them to stop and make their mark. I was going through 'em last night, and I noticed an encouraging pattern in the comments from our benevolent orange overlord:
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2007: "Quit already!"
---kos
2008: "Just quit already."
---kos
2009: "I need a better return on my investment in your soul!"
---kos
2011: Bill, I don’t even like you! But don’t you dare even think about going away.
---kos
2012: I'm getting a fantastic return on my investment in your soul.
---kos
We're bummed we couldn't make it this year. I'm thinking the next message would've been, "Enjoy the blender."
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
The caller said a woman possessed by Bill in Portland Maine had stopped breathing when sprayed with Holy Water and then went into cardiac arrest when others attempted an exorcism. The woman was taken to a hospital. Police said she was in stable condition.
---ABC News
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