Energize An Ally Tuesday
Coronavirus relief. That's what it's all about at the moment, especially in light of the Republican fumbling and stumbling at the federal level. Daily Kos, as usual, is in the thick of it. Not only are countless members of our community helping out in a number of tangible ways, from making masks to volunteering at food banks, the staff is also promoting and supporting five hand-picked organizations that C&J is now putting in our spotlight and donating to this morning:
Continued…
These ones:
- One Fair Wage Emergency Coronavirus Tipped and Service Worker Support Fund provides cash assistance to restaurant workers, car service drivers, delivery workers, personal service workers and more who need the money they aren’t getting to survive.
- CDC Foundation is an independent nonprofit created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s critical health protection work.
- Feeding America is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies.
- Meals on Wheels supports individuals who are elderly, disabled, chronically ill and home-bound by delivering nutritious meals, reducing hunger, improving health and promoting independence.
- The National Domestic Works Alliance has set up a fund to provide immediate financial support for domestic workers, and enable them to stay home and healthy — protecting themselves, their families and their communities while slowing the spread of the Coronavirus.
As Daily Kos senior poobah Michael Langemayr says, "With every passing day, more and more families are finding it harder to make ends meet. They are turning to community organizations for support. That's why we are asking you to support five organizations that have a long history of serving frontline communities in hard times." If our million-plus strong membership (99.999 percent of whom read C&J faithfully, but I'm still trying to persuade Markos to give it a peek) can contribute just $1 to each organization, it'll be manna from Heaven for them. And since it's via ActBlue, it's super easy. Click here to make a donation to one group or all five, and thanks a million. If we make it out of this thing alive, I'll let you come over and feed the squirrels.
And now, our feature presentation...
-
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Note: The C&J elevator is currently out of service. Please use the wicker basket attached to a string after leaving everything to me in your will. Thx. —Mgt.
-
By the Numbers:
6 days!!!
Days 'til Volunteer Recognition Day: 6
Portion of Americans who know someone afflicted with COVID-19, according to a Navigator tracking poll: 1-in-5
Percent of Americans polled by CBS News who believe Trump was prepared to deal with the pandemic, down from 34% last month: 29%
Percent of Americans surveyed by Quinnipiac University who believe the federal government is doing enough to help New York City deal with the pandemic: 35%
Current average price of a barrel of oil: $23
National average price of gas per gallon: $1.87
Rank of "Hiding purchases or receipts," "Lying about a price paid" and "Spending money on children behind a spouse's back" among the top money-related lies partners admit they commit, according to AARP: #1, #2, #3
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: A simple question deserves a simple answer…
-
CHEERS to eating a knuckle sandwich with cheese. Remember last week when the Republican leadership in Wisconsin, backed by conservatives on both the state and U.S. Supreme Court, insisted on going through with the in-person election? Remember how voters literally risked their health to exercise their voting rights? Remember how Republicans thought they were rigging the election so that the expected low turnout would allow a conservative state Supreme Court justice endorsed by Donald Trump to keep his seat? I remember that! Well, the results are in, and if this is a sign of voter intensity, November could be a bloodbath for the dirtbags:
The Associated Press has now projected that Jill Karofsky will be the new justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. A huge win for progressives, and a huge blow for Donald Trump, who offered one of his enthusiastic endorsement tweets for incumbent Daniel Kelly pre-election.
Jill Karofsky absolutely crushed it last night. Biggest loser: Trump.
Despite the best efforts of the GOP to tilt the field in their favor, it is now clear that their conservative Supreme Court incumbent, Daniel Kelly, is en route to a surprisingly decisive defeat at the hands of Jill Karofsky.
Always enjoy getting to whip out my favorite three words: Republicans in disarray.
CHEERS to clearing a path to veeeek-tory. What everyone hoped would happen early happened early: as of Monday, April 13, 2020, the Democratic nominee for president can officially re-tool from primary mode to general mode. And for that we can thank Bernie Sanders, who yesterday officially endorsed Vice President Joe Biden during a one-on-one livestream chat:
What followed was a diplomatic conversation between the pair of septuagenarians, who referred to each other by their first names and hinted at several “task forces” to address policy priorities, including on the economy, education, criminal justice reform, immigration and climate change.
Gonna be fine.
“I promise you I will not let you down,” Biden said at the conversation’s end, before asking if Sanders had anything to add.
“I thought we’d play some chess,” Sanders joked.“What do you think?”
I'd hold off on chess for now. This is a time for in-depth understanding of the mindset of your opponent. And since it’s Trump, we recommend 52 Pickup, Ding-Dong Ditch, and Battleship where you cheat by moving your ships around.
JEERS to wacko thespians. A hundred and fifty-five years ago today, John Wilkes Booth shot a derringer ball into Abe Lincoln's head, snuffing out the life of a great (the greatest?) president. Here's a pic of the 44th president gazing at the 16th president who made his ascension to the White House possible…
Tuck in your shirt and pay your respects here. They say that as an actor John Wilkes Booth was considered "the George Clooney of his day" when he killed Lincoln. As a human being? Not so much.
-
BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
-
END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
CHEERS to order in the courts. A trio of gavelriffic events from last week that have real Americans cheering under their homemade t-shirt COVID masks:
Abortion Rights After Republicans banned all abortions in Texas as part of their coronavirus response, a federal judge ruled that woman can continue with medication abortions, which "involve patients ingesting pills and do not consume scarce medical protective equipment," as well as procedural abortions for patients who will hit the "gestational age limit"before the ban is lifted.
“Thwack!”
Voting Rights A Superior Court judge in New Hampshire struck down the state's Republican-passed voter law that severely restricted the ability of students—who mostly vote for Democrats—to register to vote there, calling it "unconstitutional," "discriminatory," and"unreasonable." The GOP vote suppressors claimed the law was needed to prevent voter fraud. The judge, having done his homework, fired back that there's been one case of voter fraud in the last 20 years. But nice try.
Trump Crime Syndicate Oof! In yet another racketeering lawsuit leveled against it, the Trump family failed in its bid to have the matter settled by secret arbitration. So that means the suit centered around a bullshit pyramid scheme that was promoted, among other places, on Celebrity Apprentice (without disclosing that the Trumps were getting paid for their endorsement—a big no-no), is now "all but certain to be litigated publicly." The plaintiffs were conned out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, so this ain't no small-ball suit.
Trump responded to the ruling against him by calling the judge names and throwing a hissy fit in front of his staff. The judge resisted the temptation to respond in kind, mostly on account of he's no longer five years old.
CHEERS to wurds. 202 yeers agow tooday, Noah Webster puhbilshed the fuhrst(frist??) Amarrican dikshunery. It hellpd peeple spullbettor. (Sorry about that...this is the one day of the year that we letour spellchecker have the keys to the liquor cabinet.)
-
Ten years ago in C&J: April 14, 2010
YAWN to today's multi-millionaire moment. Sarah Palin, who has made $12 million since leaving the governor's igloo, is in Boston today—and, by golly, it says in one 'o them things ya call "books" that Boston's the home of the original tea party, don'tcha know! [Wink!!!] But not everyone on the commonwealth's right flank seems to be ready to jump into the batty abyss just yet:
Unsure where they fit in among the restive masses of the "tea party movement,’’ leading figures in the Massachusetts Republican Party are split over whether to join a rally tomorrow with Sarah Palin and several thousand activists on Boston Common.
Three of the party’s leading lights—gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker, conservative congressional candidate Jeffrey D.Perry, and US Senator Scott P. Brown, who was personally invited by the organizers to attend—say they will not participate.
Oops! Oh, and here are the signals to watch for from the Old North Church steeple for Sarah's arrival: one if by limo, two if by snow machine.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to scraggly beards and eyebags…LIVE! With stir craziness in full swing, Daily Kos thought it might be fun to do a live C&J event via Zoom this Friday. So guess what? That's what we're gonna do, and you're invited to join us.
The fun starts at 4pm Pacific Time, 7pm Eastern Time. It's a half-hour edition of Rum & Social Distancing FRIDAY. I'll be hosting, with special musical guests Markos Moulitsas and Paul Hogarth, and interviews with Mark Sumner, Denise Oliver Valez, and Lauren Reichelt (better known here as TheFatLadySings), all three of whom have written eloquently about various aspects of the COVID-19 response.
This Friday on Zoom. You’re invited.
Space is limited and you need to reserve your spot, so see Neeta's post here and leave a comment there to RSVP. She'll send you the secret password so you can join in Friday. Immediately afterward I'll post our print edition of C&J here at its usual time, and you can let us know if our production was more the Citizen Kane of Ishtars, or more the Ben Hur of Giglis. One brief word of advice: don't watch with 3-D glasses on. You'll end up in therapy for months.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
If you want to know just how eager we are to avoid Cheers and Jeers, consider a scientific study that offered people a choice between giving themselves electric shocks or being alone with Bill in Portland Maine for 15 minutes. Believe it or not, many chose the electric shocks.
—Sigal Samuel, Vox
-
