From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Things That Made Trump Look Like A Bigger Fool In June
Carrier
His son
His ties
Vote Vets
His own ass
His own thumbs
Pittsburgh's mayor
Prime Minister Theresa May
His Nazi and KKK fan club
Shakespeare in the Park
His approval numbers
Fake TIME magazines
The rest of the world
America's mayors
James Comey
Scandinavia
His cabinet
John Oliver
Trumpcare
As always, shaped like the torch from the Statue of Liberty which, last time I checked, is still standing. (And very pissed off.)
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Note: Please rise for the unveiling of the C&J bunting…
Thank you. Please be seated.
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til An Inconvenient Sequel: 30
Days 'til the Moxie Festival in Lisbon, Maine: 9
Percent chance that President Donald Trump is the first president in over two decades to not host a Ramadan dinner: 100%
Number of Americans living in nursing homes, most of whom depend on Medicaid: 1.4 million
Worldwide gross for Wonder Woman, making it the top-grossing action film directed by a woman: $654 million
Rank of the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox in terms of major league stadiums with the most hot dog sales: #1, #2, #3
(Source: National Hot Dog & Sausage Council)
Number of raw hot dogs I can throw on the porch of the old lady across the street before she threatens to call the cops: 27
-
Mid-week Rapture Index:
181 (including 4 Anti-Semitisms and 1 kick-ass summer solstice spell cast by witches). Soul Protection Factor 30 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: They look like little Klingon doggies…
-
MEGA CHEERS!!! to dissension in the ranks. The great news spread across the land yesterday afternoon as Republicans, once again tripping over their shoelaces, failed to muster the votes needed to send Trumpcare to the Senate floor. Apparently not even the devious and wily Mitch McConnell could herd his rabid cats in time for the July 4th recess. So that gives the resistance 11 blessed days to stiffen and expand (sorry, that sounds dirty), including tracking down Republican senators wherever they try to hide and raising holy hell. If you catch 'em in their Speedos on the beach, I say towel snaps are totally fair game.
P.S. Cheers also to our Democratic defenders in the Senate…
-
JEERS to Trump's Mini Me. Maine Oafpublican governor Paul LePage has cooked up quite a grand finale for his disastrous reign as governor: "cause chaos in the courthouses, padlock the state parks…interfere with hospitals and child protective workers," and disrupt everything from the DMV to safety-net services. Yessiree, Bob, this Friday, because of a budget deadlock, LePage will be fulfilling his wet dream of a government shutdown...
The Democrats did not refuse to negotiate---the governor did.
The Democrats did not force the resignation of the state’s budget director two weeks before the shutdown deadline---the governor did. And the Democrats did not reintroduce unpopular and unworkable policy demands at the last minute, the way that the governor did by making an already-rejected pilot program for a statewide teachers contract a nonnegotiable condition. […]
If Maine government goes over the brink, the blame will not be on the presiding officers. It will rest on Gov. LePage and the [Republican] members of the House who backed him.
Unfortunately, one thing will remain wide open for the duration: the governor's mouth.
CHEERS to the other American revolution. On June 28, 1969, a ragtag gaggle of customers at a seedy Greenwich Village gay bar---the Stonewall Inn, now a bona fide National Monument---decided they'd had enough police harassment for one lifetime. So they got mad as hell, tipped over a police car, hurled some rocks and gave new life to the gay rights movement. As the deputy police inspector said: "For those of us in [the] public morals [division], things were completely changed ... Suddenly they were not submissive anymore."
What a difference 48 years makes. A huge majority of Americans now embrace their LGBT family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. LGBTers can serve openly in the military. The vast majority of businesses support LGBT employees and many sponsor LGBT advocacy groups (and annual pride festivals around the country). When right-wingers pass anti-LGBT laws, there's almost always a severe backlash now. Non-discrimination laws are in effect in tons of states and cities (although a federal law is still elusive because Republicans are allergic to equality). And now those aging protesters in New York who got mad as hell that hot June night and refused to take it anymore have the legal right---in every state, guaranteed by the Supreme Court---to take their fights where straight Americans have waged them since 1776: the institution of marriage.
P.S. Great news from Pew Research: only 32 percent of Americans don’t support marriage equality for gays and lesbians. And, amazingly, half of Republicans support it, meaning the party no longer has leverage to use LGBT issues as successful campaign wedges. Though god knows they'll keep trying.
P.P.S. Angela Merkel has seen the light! The German chancellor has given the green light for same-sex marriage to be voted on and approved by the end of the week. FYI, German wedding receptions are slightly different than American ones. Instead of tossing a bouquet, the bride hurls a wienerschnitzel.
JEERS to the Liar-in-Chief. I'd file this under "nobody could've predicted," but that would be kicking people while they're down. But seriously, did anybody really not think this was the inevitable outcome, given that the promises were coming out of Lord Dampnut's mouth hole?
A promise made before Christmas is fizzling before the Fourth of July.
In December, then-President-elect Trump told hundreds of workers at the Carrier manufacturing plant that he had worked out a deal to save their jobs. But it's not working out that way. A steady downpour today did little to wash away the fact that the jobs of 600 union employees are going south.
"They're going to Monterrey, Mexico," said Robert James, president of the local union. […] "That is what he said was not going to happen," James said. "That's what he told all of us. And a lot of these people voted for Mr. Trump" with the understanding that he would save their jobs.
This despite---again, from his own mouth hole---a “100 percent guarantee” that those jobs were safe. Instead, the first layoffs will happen in July, and the second round will happen one day before Festivus. I have a feeling those workers' cats are going to be diving under the couch during the Airing of Grievances.
CHEERS to today's edition of I Can't Vote For That Monstrosity, I'm Running For Governor Next Year! Courtesy of The Portland Press Herald...
Senate Republicans’ bill to erase major parts of the Affordable Care Act would cause an estimated 22 million more Americans to be uninsured by the end of the coming decade---only about a million fewer than similar legislation recently passed by the House, the Congressional Budget Office said in a forecast released Monday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, reacted to the analysis by Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers by saying she would vote against advancing the Senate health care bill, casting more doubt on the likelihood that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will get the legislation through the Senate this week before Congress breaks for the Fourth of July recess.
This has been today's edition of I Can't Vote For That Monstrosity, I'm Running For Governor Next Year!
CHEERS to Ol' Shortypants. James Madison, who at 5'4" holds the distinction of being the U.S. president with the lowest center of gravity, died in Montpelier, Virginia 181 years ago today. He was the chief architect of the United States Constitution, and he's rolling in his grave over the GOP's manhandling of it. The book Rating the Presidents (a survey of 700 historians and political analysts) sums up his legacy as one of "courageous leadership as president, guided by the principles of the Constitution, which he played so large a part in framing. All Americans owe him a great debt of gratitude." Pay your respects here. But don't call him short. Touchy subject.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: June 28, 2007
CHEERS to gaining a seat at the table. One of the five contestants chosen to have dinner with Barack Obama is a veteran, former Republican, and transgender American. While some people would've been uncomfortable with someone like that, campaign officials let Jennifer (formerly John) Lasko know that, no matter what anyone thinks, "Senator Obama would love to have her attend the dinner." I dunno, I get kinda ick'ed out by those people. Y'know...the ones who practice the "Republican lifestyle." (I hear Leviticus says they should be stoned.)
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to Great Moments in Losing. Given Mitch McConnell’s hasty retreat on Trumpcare, I think this is an appropriate way to end today’s C&J. Lest we forget, at 10:07am on this date five years ago the Supreme Court---including John Roberts, whom the right immediately branded a traitor---ruled that the Obamacare mandate was constitutional on "taxing authority" grounds, not Commerce Clause grounds. To mark the occasion, please enjoy reliving the moment when former Congresswoman "Mean Jean” Schmidt (R-OH) screamed with delight as she misheard the verdict and squealed thanks to her Lord and Savior for striking it down:
She wept salty tears of grief when she finally realized she was on the losing end of the ruling and millions wouldn’t lose their health insurance after all. But the Lord got a good chuckle out of it.
Have a happy humpday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Did Bill in Portland Maine Win A ‘Fugly Nazi Makeover’ Contest Or Did He Just Get A Haircut?
---Wonkette
-