From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Positive Thinking
As the 114th Congress convenes today for the first time and Republicans start their scorched-earth campaign of nationwide pain-infliction (they can't help it---it's all they know), here's something minority Democrats can post on their House and Senate office walls and use as their compass for the next two years.
On January 6, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt delivered his famous "Four Freedoms" State of the Union speech. (You can read it and hear it via the FDR Library). While the oft-cited quartet---of speech, of religion, from want and from fear---is timeless, so too is this part of his address, which basically is the liberal playbook. Here's what the dirty effing Hyde Park hippie bleated:
"The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
January 6, 1941
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• Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
• Jobs for those who can work.
• Security for those who need it.
• The ending of special privilege for the few.
• The preservation of civil liberties for all.
• The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.
Many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement. As examples: We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care. We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it."
FDR was right---simple and basic things based on decency, compassion and common sense to promote the public good. Sure, the next two years are gonna suck with Republicans in control of Congress. But if Democrats can spend the time honing FDR's populist vision for 2016 and beyond, the GOP juggernaut could find itself in a nasty little ditch in 22 months.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Note: In tandem with the president's reestablishment of diplomatic ties, C&J is now going to start reaching out to the people of Cuba:
[Waves at Cuba]
[Cuba waves back]
That went well. Maybe next week we'll try words.
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11 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til Groundhog Day:
27
Days 'til the
Florida Manatee Festival in Crystal River:
11
Number of individual tax returns the IRS expects to process this year:
150 million
Decrease in motorcycle accidents among 50-69 year-olds between 2012 and 2013:
60%
(Source:
L.A. Times)
Interest owed by the federal government on our Afghanistan war debt, which Republicans so happily paid for with deficit-spending:
$125 billion
(Source:
Financial Times)
Number of pianos sold in 1909, the high-point for sales:
364,500
Estimated number of pianos sold per year now:
35,000
(Source: AP)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
Watch the senate pig, Thune. Yesterday he said “I’m against all taxes but I might support a national gasoline tax, because the kitty is depleted for the roads and transportation box”, or some such. Go to Hell, all of you. That kitty was depleted illegally, you swine of DC, from all sides.
I hope Hell on Earth and the other will sizzle you, slowly.
---Commenter Schadenfreude at Hot Air
All together now: 1…2…3…
Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Belly up to the Bowser Beer bar…
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CHEERS to the Southernmost Gay Marriages in the lower 48. Marriage equality was supposed to come to Florida today, but it didn't. That's because thanks to a circuit court judge lifting her stay in Miami-Dade County, marriage equality came to Florida YESTERDAY! Here's a look at the first couple---Catherina Pareto and Karla Arguello---to tie the knot:
Marriages will commence in the rest of the state today. Happy couples and their supporters will be singin' Here Comes the Bride. And at long last Anita Bryant will be singin' the blues.
Celebrating #68 in 2013.
CHEERS to the couple that keeps on keepin' on. And speaking of marriage... Much can be said about the negative impact the Bush family has had on America over the decades, but we'll save it for another day. Today is the anniversary of the day in 1945 when George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce, and we wish them a happy 70th anniversary, especially in light of George's recent health scares. I looked it up, and the traditional wedding gift for the 70th year is platinum. I got them both a matching pair of "Eat Your broccoli" socks. Sue me---I'm on a budget.
P.S. Greetings also to George and Martha Washington on their 256th wedding anniversary. Don’t worry about sending 'em a
gift...they haven't spoken in years.
JEERS to the all-new adventures of Turtle Man and Captain Weepy. The United States Congress convenes today to begin the 114th session. Lord only knows what Republicans have in mind, but two things we do know: Democrats are now free to wield their filibuster power in the Senate using the precedent set by Republicans over the last six years, and the House of Representatives now has as its #3 guy Steve Scalise, aka the congressman who once described himself as "David Duke without the baggage." So to recap: the guy affiliated with the guy affiliated with the KKK is going to be elevated to a position in the Republican-led House that requires him to "whip" people. Paging RNC chair Reince Priebus: re-branding cleanup in aisle six.
McDonnell receiving the
2010 Alumnus of the Year
Award at Regent University.
JEERS to floundering felons. Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, whom both Pat Robertson and, by extension, God deemed the Great Christian Savior of All That is Moral and Decent, gets
sentenced today for being really, really, really immoral and indecent. McDonnell spent his holidays clutching his dwindling group of supporters by the ankles and begging them
to write tear-stained letters to the judge asking for community service instead of prison. Says one of them:
"I've never seen one of my friends get jail time, and I've never seen someone get jail time who honestly did not believe he did anything wrong,"
Oh, yeah. I'm sure that'll fly.
JEERS to today's boring correction. Sunday several members of the New York Police Department were accused of turning their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio again, this time at the funeral of slain Officer Wenjian Liu. They wish to correct that misperception with photographic proof:
See? They weren't turning their backs on the Mayor. Their bellies were turning them involuntarily toward Dunkin' Donuts. They hope this clears up any confusion.
CHEERS to the Land of Enchantment. Happy 103rd birthday to our 47th state: New Mexico! Capital: Santa Fe. Square mileage: 121,593. Home state of John Madden, Demi Moore, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Unser and---amazingly enough---beloved Kossack Land of Enchantment. The state's official insect, by the way, is the tarantula hawk wasp, which apparently flew through the gates of hell to get here:
"You tarantulas get offa my lawn!"
When a female is ready to lay her eggs, she seeks out a tarantula and injects it with paralyzing venom. She drags the tarantula to a burrow and stuffs it down the hole, then lays her eggs on top of the paralyzed spider.
Several days later the eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the still living tarantula.
Or as they call that up in Alaska: Sarah Palin on a bender.
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Ten years ago in C&J: January 6, 2005
JEERS to bariatric boobery. Surprise! A new study shows that nobody seems to know what the hell works and what doesn't in the quest to be as thin as a supermodel. Well, at least not until my new book, The Amazing C&J Twinkie, Bacardi, Pizza, Lucky Charms & Candy Corn Weight Loss Miracle hits bookstore shelves. The key to success: Diet soda.
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And just one more…
It's like the Ice Bucket Challenge, except
the bucket is holding the Atlantic Ocean.
CHEERS to a cool d...d...dip. They do it every year to raise money for the Special Olympics, and this year an estimated 300+ masochists with big hearts participated in Old Orchard Beach's
annual Lobster Dip---a headlong plunge (if you're doing it right, which is to say, if you're crazy enough) into the frigid Atlantic Ocean that gets played out in a hundred similar ways by various groups up and down the east coast. This year there was double-good news: they topped $100,000 in donations, and only three people were sent to the hospital with accidental frozen-nipple puncture wounds.
Have a toasty Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
British PM David Cameron: Obama sometimes calls me "Bill in Portland Maine"
---The Week
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