A Fine Quartet Turns 84
A portrait in contrast to the ideology Republicans tried to force on our country four years ago today: it was on January 6, 1941 when Franklin Roosevelt delivered his famous "Four Freedoms" State of the Union speech. (You can read it and hear it here). 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 both the Democratic playbook and the American dream. Here's what that dirty effing Hyde Park hippie bleated:
"The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
• 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.
January 6, 1941
• 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."
He was right—simple and basic things based on decency, compassion and common sense to ensure domestic tranquility and promote the public good. What a perfect contrast to the “ideals” of anarchy and dictatorship that’ll be celebrated today by Republicans—now a lawless cult—on their new high holy day. I’ll take FDR’s vision, thanks. I just never quite got the hang of knuckle dragging.
And now, our feature presentation...
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, January 6, 2025
Note: The eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming have announced they'll be playing at the Trump inauguration. Apparently this time of year they really need the money.
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By the Numbers:
16 days!!!
Days 'til the next full "cold moon": 7
Days 'til the Idaho Potato Conference in Boise: 16
Number of Korean War and Vietnam War veterans who received the Medal of Honor from President Joe Biden Friday: 7
Drop in Tesla sales in 2024, the first drop in 9 years: 1.1%
Amount Apple has to pay to settle Siri eavesdropping claims: $95 million
Increase in Maine's minimum wage as of Jan. 1: $14.15 to $14.65
Average age of a member of Congress this year, the third-oldest since 1789: 59 years
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Looking forward to the results of this study…
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CHEERS to the start of an honorable week. While we were all sleeping in the wee hours of Saturday morning, President Joe Biden was busy announcing the latest recipients of the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor (if you don’t include the Golden Kiddie Pool of Distinction). The awards are given out for "An especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." This year's gaggle:
Chef Jose Andres…Bono…former DefenseSec Ash Carter (posthumous)…Hillary Clinton…Michael J. Fox…Tim Gill…Jane Goodall…civil rights hero Fannie Lou Hamer (posthumous)…Magic Johnson…Robert F. Kennedy (posthumous)…
Lionel Messi…Ralph Lauren…Bill Nye the Science Guy…George Romney (posthumous)…David Rubenstein…George Soros…George Stevens Jr…famed St. Elsewhere cast member Denzel Washington…and Anna Wintour.
Each honoree gets the medal, a ribbon, a tie clip and, due to a clerical error on the official paperwork, their own squad of Ninja assassins. Good advice for all of you: don’t forget to send 'em a Valentine this year.
JEERS to dates that will live in infamy. December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 were attacks from the outside. But like April 12, 1861, January 6, 2021 was a conservative-led inside job. Four years ago a mob of rabid Republicans, brainwashed by right-wing media and their own gaslighting leaders (who have since doubled down on their brainwashing and gaslighting), stormed the U.S. Capitol with clubs, spears, guns, tear gas, and even a portable gallows. Their goal: stop the certification of the 2020 election results and re-install, by force, their duly defeated president, who watched the action on TV with a big grin on his face in the White House dining room. It was the culmination of a Trump-inspired coup attempt that had been discussed and planned right down to the tiniest detail in memos sent around by his lieutenants, and even the murder of the Republican vice president was fair game to the nut jobs. Two years ago, on the one-year anniversary of the coup, the 46th president took direct aim at the 45th, and let him have it…
"We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie.
A former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election.
That right there is why Trump will not be a legitimate president again for even one second.
He's done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest and America's interest. He can't accept he lost. […]
He's not just a former president. He's a defeated former president."
It was the harshest rebuke by a sitting president of a former president since William Henry Harrison accused Martin van Buren of having "the whiskers of a feral alley cat, the vacuousness of a discarded hoop skirt, and the fingers of pork sausages." Somehow, the republic endures.
CHEERS to the Land of Enchantment. Happy 113th birthday to our 47th state: New Mexico! Not many people know this, but the state's official insect is the tarantula hawk wasp, which apparently flew through the gates of hell to get here:
When a female is ready to lay her eggs, she seeks out a tarantula and injects it with paralyzing venom.
Welcome to New Mexico!
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.
Also: not many people know that the state maintains an army of giant tarantula hawk wasps in an underground bunker in Roswell. And also not many people know that therein lies the reason for the state's official motto: "What New Mexico Wants, New Mexico Gets."
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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JEERS to disarray in Dixie. Thanks to a major backlash from the gays, feminists and pagans to the impending presidency of Very Bad Man, a major winter weather event is clobbering the south and heartland. If you’re in the middle of it, please stay safe during the event, and prepare yourself by familiarizing yourself with the designated column below:
And Florida: don’t forget to help the alligators zip up their parkas.
CHEERS to the couple that keeps on keepin' on. Congratulations to George and Martha Washington on their 266th wedding anniversary:
On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married Martha Dandridge Custis, the 28-year-old widow of wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis.
To maintain their privacy, George and Martha only communicated via the earliest-known Cone of Silence.
The marriage took place at Martha's estate; she was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate, and the couple created a happy marriage. … They moved to Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, where he took up life as a planter of tobacco and wheat and emerged as a political figure.
But don’t bother sending 'em a gift...they haven't spoken in years.
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Ten years ago in C&J: January 6, 2015
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! The first couple to tie the knot: Catherina Pareto and Karla Arguello. 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.
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And just one more…
JEERS to the Long, Cold, Dark Road Ahead. Our annual reminder that the next warm-weather holiday when most Americans actually get a long weekend off is Memorial Day—140 days away. But there's one place where the weekend never ends: outer space. So put on your beer goggles and your chill-out face as Preston Dyches at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveals the January night-sky party forecast, including Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn falling into a conga line, and Mars getting cozy with the moon…
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Bonus good news: Six days into the new year and our planet’s still here. (Our sanity? Still an open question.)
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
President Biden Blocks Sale of Cheers and Jeers Kiddie Pool to Japanese Company
—USA Today
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