Astounding Milestone: 100 Orbits Around the Blue Marble
Send Jimmy a birthday greeting here at the Carter Center.
Taking a moment from fixating on the endless challenges facing the 46th president to say "Happy Birthday!" to our 39th.
If you don’t count George Washington's fake choppers, Jimmy Carter—who turns a sprightly 100 today—owns the most famous set of presidential teeth in history. That Jimmy grin and the sense of optimism that went with it was what the country wanted and needed after the Republicans’ Watergate mess.
Although his one term isn't considered a rousing success, he kept us out of war, focused our attention on energy policy, protected huge amounts of land, was at the helm during the creation of eight million jobs, brokered peace between Israel and Egypt, and brought honesty and integrity back to the White House.
But before all that—he hates to brag, so I will—he was a U.S. Navy officer so courageous that he "was physically lowered into a damaged nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, and exposed to levels of radiation unthinkable today after an accident." (I’m actually starting to think maybe it turned him superhuman, given today’s milestone.)
Jimmy and his bud Willie
Carter's post-presidency is where he really shines (like leading the charge to eradicate guinea worm disease in Africa) and he warrants every accolade we can throw Daily Kos community member 81380's way.
His motto at the Carter Center says it all: "Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope." Done…done…and done.
And kudos for throwing jabs at the right-wing freak show, as he did in his speech during the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington in 2013:
"I believe we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the new ID requirements to exclude certain voters, especially African-Americans. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to the Supreme Court striking down a crucial part of the Voters' Rights Act, just recently passed overwhelmingly by Congress.
President Carter, 1979
I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to unemployment among African-Americans being almost twice the rate of white people and for teenagers at 42 percent. I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to our country being awash in guns and for more and more states passing "stand your ground" laws. I think we know how Dr. King would have reacted to people of the District of Columbia still not having full citizenship rights.
And I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted to having more than 835,000 African-American men in prison—five times as many as when I left office—and with one-third of all African-American males being destined to be in prison in their lifetimes."
After a lifetime—like, a looong lifetime—of service, Jimmy is prepared to let go. His Sunday school classes in Plains are behind him, and he won’t be hammering any more nails for Habitat for Humanity. He’s now foregoing the proverbial “heroic measures,” medically speaking, and is letting nature take its course. Rosalynn awaits his arrival at the pearly peanut farm gate.
But his plan to keep his ticker ticking a little longer so he can vote for Kamala Harris is…[chef’s kiss].
What more can we say? Happy birthday, Jimmy. In the pantheon of Most Excellent American Role Models, you stand so tall you don’t even need a pedestal.
And now, our feature presentation…
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Note: Oakey...with shades of peppermint and boysenberry.
-
3 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Weeks 'til election day: 5
Days 'til Twin Cities Oktoberfest in Minnesota: 3
Additional acres of land protected during the Biden administration: 42 million
National average price of a gallon of gas, according to AAA: $3.21
Number of U.S. ports at which longshoremen will start striking at midnight if a contract isn't reached: 36
Percent of goods shipped into the U.S. that are handled by those ports: 50%
Argentina's poverty rate in December and today, respectively, under the reign of Trump-lite leader Javier Milei: 41%, 53%
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: "You…shall not…pawwwwwwwss!"
-
CHEERS to October. Busy month ahead! Autumn kicks into high gear for leaf-peepers, cider-lovers, flannel wearers, and pumpkin spice nerds. The Supreme Court gavels itself into session (Clarence Thomas will put out the finest linen Nazi napkins from pal Harlan Crow for their mimosas, and the upside-down American flag Cruella Alito sent up the pole this morning is made of the finest silk). Pink ribbons proliferate for breast cancer awareness month. The Nobel Prizes will be doled out next week, and this year I’m the favorite to win in the category of “Just You For Being You.” Plus:
Pro tip: do NOT dress up your pet like food for Halloween if you live within a hundred miles of the Vance or RFK Jr. household.
Barack and Michelle Obama celebrate their 32nd anniversary Thursday. October’s full moon (the 17th) is called a “Hunter’s Moon” because it’s in the shape of his laptop Ha Ha Ha Ha Topical Moon Humor! Advocates for the right to keep and bare arms—lots and lots of arms—will celebrate World Octopus Day on the 8th. It's LGBTQ History Month and the 11th is "Coming Out Day." Plus it's also “ex-gay awareness month” during which we’ll all reflect on how there aren't actually any ex-gays to be aware of. Columbus Day (next Monday) becomes more of an unwanted relic as more states and communities replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day. And I’m predicting the right-wingers will boycott Halloween on the 31st because, of course, wearing masks is now worse than the holocaust.
Ukraine will continue their ongoing Russian tank and artillery blow-up-a-thon while Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu continues his blow-civilians-up-so-I-can-avoid-prison-time-for-corruption-a-thon.
Promising new movies include Joker 2: Joke Harder, Brothers, Conclave, and 101 horror flicks. And hovering over everything like a wet blanket is the final grinding month of the 2024 U.S. political season, including the Walz-Weirdo VP debate tonight, polling madness, wall-to-wall political ads, and early voting on a massive scale. Strap yourself in. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
CHEERS to a good start. Speaking of bumpy rides, today marks the 66th anniversary of the day NASA was established as a part of the dastardly federal government. And thank god it arrived when it did, because other than the deepest depths of the oceans, we'd nearly run out of places on earth to explore. So off into the heavens we went, and today we've got probes probing our solar system and beyond, footsteps on the moon, missions to Mars in the pipeline, and even a "research castle in the sky." NASA's research and technology have so successfully paved the way for private entrepreneurship that space tourism is now a reality. Puts a lump in your throat, it does…
-
For bestowing equal parts engineering brilliance, human ingenuity and endurance, and jaw-dropping wonderment upon the world, we thank you, NASA, as you start your 793rd month reaching yonward. The Tang? Eh...not so much.
CHEERS to the rumble in the Big Apple Jungle. The long-awaited vice presidential candidates' debate is tonight from the pleasant seaside hamlet of New York City—9pm ET on CBS and whatever streaming platforms they own. The humanoid moderators, forbidden by their Trump-loving executive higher-ups from doing any fact-checking, will sit on their duffs and ask questions that any robot could ask, which would actually save the news division thousands of dollars in salary and benefits, but oh well. As for the candidates, this is my expert assessment as a humanoid experienced in these matters:
Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) will bring facts, folksiness, and fire to the stage. He'll lay out a positive vision for the country's future while sharing the bottomless list of reasons why his opponent, his opponent's boss, and his opponent's party are just…weird.
Along with doughnuts and decency, Gov. Walz will have to explain to J.D. Vance what this is tonight.
Senator J.D. Vance (MAGA-OH) will sit there with that It-clown grin on his pompous puss and move his mouth hole well past the speed limit to lie with rapid-fire precision, piling the bullshit so high that Walz won’t have a prayer of wielding a shovel big enough to dispose of it all. But because Vance is incapable of demonstrating empathy in word or deed, and because he has so much flaming baggage (Springfield, diner disasters, canoodling with Nazis and Christian supremacists, “childless cat ladies”), his more experienced opponent will find plenty of ways to carve him up like the roadkill in RFK Jr.’s freezer.
Drinking game: take a shot every time Governor Walz says "Mind your own damn business," and a swig every time Vance appears on-screen and one of your pets flees the room.
-
BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
-
END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
JEERS to today's cars. Call me a nostalgic fool, but none of them have the simplicity or the...um...blackness of the Model T, which was introduced 116 years ago today. Cost: $850. Place in automotive lore: priceless.
JEERS to one helluva mess. The good news: President Biden's emergency-management leadership in the wake of Hurricane Helene has been swift and competent. The bad news: this could take awhile…
At least 115 people have died across six states and officials fear the death toll can rise. Many more remain missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or unable to contact family where communications infrastructure is in shreds.
This is what “more beachfront property” Trump promised we’d see as a result of climate change looks like.
Hundreds of roads remain closed, especially in the Carolinas, hampering the delivery of badly-needed supplies. And more than 2 million customers remain without power, according to poweroutage.us.
President Joe Biden will visit some of the affected communities later this week, “as soon as it will not disrupt emergency response operations,” the White House said. Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have expressed condolences to those affected by Hurricane Helene and are receiving recovery briefings.
As emergency crews, relief agencies, volunteers from far & wide, good Samaritans, and Joe's Army continue working 24/7 to keep victims (and their pets) safe, housed, and fed, the rest of us can help out. I noticed that the Obama Foundation has a menu of A+ organizations that you can donate to with a few clicks. You'll find it here. Among the services provided that most people don’t think about: diaper banks. Very important. As a former flood victim myself, I know how important protective headgear is during a crisis.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: October 1, 2014
JEERS to snoopy snoops. The FBI recently informed Mitt Romney that a foreign country was secretly reading his emails. When Mitt asked how they tracked down the country doing it, the feds said they just followed the snoring.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to another moment with today’s birthday boy. Cronkite (Murray), Carter (Aykroyd), perfection...
-
And that’s the way it is.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
"Comrade Kamala Harris gave an economic speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and let me tell you, it was light on the two things I demand out of a serious leader: rambling stories that have nothing to do with the economy and Cheers and Jeers."
—Rex Huppke
-
