Warnings from Our Last Great President
Instead of marking the first year of the Very Bad Man (VBM) administration, we take a moment to revive and amplify President Joe Biden's most important action items from his farewell address here at the top of today's C&J, where we know we'll always have them archived for future reference:
✎ Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power.
✎ [U] nless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind.
✎ We need to get dark money that’s hidden funding behind too many campaigns’ contributions—we need to get it out of our politics.
✎ We need to enact an 18-year term limit and the strongest ethics reforms for our Supreme Court.
✎ We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office. The president’s power is limited---it’s not absolute, and it shouldn’t be.
✎ And in a democracy, there’s another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don’t feel like they have a fair shot. But we have to stay engaged in the process.
Give that man the next Nobel Peace Prize.
And now, our feature presentation...
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Note:
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By the Numbers:
11 days!!!
Days 'til Squirrel Appreciation Day: 1
Days 'til the 19th Wingfest in Poughkeepsie, New York: 11
Trump approval rating with American adults polled by Marist: 38%
Portion of Americans polled by YouGov who believe ICE's thug tactics are intolerable: 61%
Number of words in CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig's on-air assertion that "The Department of Justice has lost its damn mind": 9
Age of Iran's supreme leader and porn addict Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: 86
Amount that Kansas is forcing taxpayers to waste on luring the Kansas City Chiefs away from Missouri with a new stadium…the largest sop to a sports franchise ever: $1.8 billion
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Which Secretary of State adopted which kind of puppy at which kind of show? Wouldn’t you like to know…
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CHEERS to a seamless changing of the guard. The weather in Richmond was chilly but otherwise just fine Saturday for the passing of the torch from hapless MAGA punchline Glenn Youngkin to Abigail Spanberger, who officially became Viginny's 74th governor in a critical swing state, backed by a majority in both the House of Delegates (64-36) and the state Senate (21-19). But some things she can do on her own, and this is a big one:
On her first day as Governor, Abigail Spanberger made a decisive move: she vetoed Executive Order 47, ending Virginia’s participation in the federal 287(g) program that allowed local law enforcement to act as ICE agents.
This swift action represents a major victory for immigrant advocacy groups like CASA in Action, whose years of organizing and pressure from immigrant communities helped shape this outcome.
The decision carries particular weight given that Latino voters were a decisive force in Spanberger’s election, with the largest shifts from the 2024 presidential election occurring in Virginia’s most heavily Hispanic communities.
Spanberger is the first woman to lead the state, and we say it's long past time. Sworn in as her Lieutenant Governor: Ghazala Hashmi, the first Indian American to hold statewide office in Virginia, and the first Muslim woman to hold statewide office anywhere…and first Black Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
Up next: Today New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy passes the governor's baton to Mikie Sherrill, the first Democratic woman to lead the state, who will enjoy a a 25-15 majority in the state Senate and a 57-23 majority in the House. On her agenda: freezing utility rates, increasing government efficiency, protecting kids online, and presenting Donald Trump with New Jersey's first Here's A Bronze Middle Finger To Make Up For Your Whiff On The Nobel Peace Prize Prize.
JEERS to Year One. As of today, Mad King Rottingham has completed his fifth year in office, and the first year of his second term. And the question on everyone's mind is: Heyyyyy, are we havin' fun yet? Let's check the numbers:
Public opinion on nearly every aspect of President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House is negative, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with a majority of Americans saying Trump is focused on the wrong priorities and doing too little to address cost of living.
58% call the first year of Trump’s term a failure. There’s hardly any good news in the poll for Trump or the Republican Party entering a critical midterm year, with the president’s handling of the economy looming as the defining issue in key House and Senate races. […]
Gallup’s poll is even worse.
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The poll suggests Trump is struggling to prove that he’s addressing it. And it finds broad concerns over Trump’s use of presidential power and his efforts to put his stamp on American culture.
63% say that Trump puts himself above the interests of the country.
Gosh. Fail to fix the economy, turn lawless thugs out into the streets to terrorize innocent civilians, threaten to invade countries on three continents, raise taxes via tariffs, turn the White House into a giant embezzlement operation, spend a third of his time on the golf course, weaponize everything from the Justice Department to the media while throwing 20 million people off their health insurance and laughing maniacally at preventable disease outbreaks—all in one year—and this is the thanks he gets??? Sorry, no $3 piece of chicken, piece of broccoli, tortilla, and one other thing until you change your attitude, bub.
CHEERS to small town celebrations. On January 20, 1981, 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days were finally freed. One of them, Bert Moore, lived in my hometown—Mt. Vernon, Ohio—and his son was in my class. As Rachel Maddow reminded us recently, President James Earl Carter—NOT President Ronald F*cking Reagan—was responsible for negotiating the deal, and flew to Germany to welcome the hostages as they landed. I love this pic:
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrate the news that the hostages will be released just minutes before Carter's presidency ends.
The homecoming celebration for Bert Moore at our high school gymnasium (I played baritone horn on 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree' as Senators John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum tapped their toes in approval) was Americana personified. Now, 45 years later, the current ayatollah is in danger of getting kicked out of the country in favor of...the old shah’s son. Life is weird.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to good spelling. On this date in 1955, three years after Macy's made it a household name in America, Scrabble made its debut in Australia and the UK. If what I read is correct, the highest scoring word if you hit all the right bonus squares is still "sesquioxidizing." Meanwhile my highest-scoring word while sober is still "cow.”
JEERS to instructions you may ignore at will. Over the weekend National Cosplay Champion Kristi Noem, who occasionally moonlights as our Secretary of Homeland Security, dressed up as Shirley Temple and demanded that we—all of us—stop saying the name of the ICE agent who murdered U.S. citizen and devoted mom Renee Good in Minneapolis and then called the dying woman a "fucking bitch." Here's what I have to say about Kristi Noem's request:
Jonathan Ross, Murderer Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Jonathan Ross, Murderer
Oops. Sorry. My bad. I promise to do it again.
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Twenty years ago in C&J: January 20, 2006
CHEERS to your first-amendment rights. A Maryland judge has ruled that mooning is "disgusting" and "demeaning"... and also a protected form of free speech. So, in observance of our most sacred of American rights, drop your knickers and send a cheeky-gram to the GOP. Can you hear us now? Good.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the most beautiful spread of land in the universe. Happy 97th Birthday this week to Maine’s Acadia National Park (formerly Lafayette National Park until 1929.) Miles and miles of unspoiled and federally protected nature that invites travelers to rest their weary bones and let the soul-replenishing eye candy revive their hopes for a better tomorrow:
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
Lovely sandmanship.
Autumn in Acadia.
Come on up and visit sometime. For your maximum enjoyment, bring sturdy boots and sunscreen. For our maximum enjoyment, bring lots of credit cards.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Not every couple has piles of social invitations or can afford a big trip. No matter your situation, try to prioritize emotional goals as much as material ones. Splashing in the Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool together weekly can pay off as much as attending a family wedding.
—USA Today
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