From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Intermission
Holy Crosstabs, Ant Man! 2019 is halfway over. The second quarter ended Sunday, and that means it's C&J number-crunching time. Every few months we post results of some recent C&J polls to give you a snapshot of what Kossacks (and our small but persistent band of right-wing trolls) think about this and that, while also revisiting some of the high/lowlights from the past 90-odd (or, if you prefer, 90 odd) days. The total number of votes each poll received is in parentheses:
✔ 61 percent of you support a Democratic candidates debate devoted exclusively to the climate crisis, while another 18 percent lean yes. (3,687)
✔ When it comes to choosing the Democratic candidate for president, 84 percent prefer voting in a primary, while 3 percent prefer sitting through a caucus. (3,079)
✔ During her stint as director of Homeland Security, 98 percent of you did not feel safe under the watchful eye of Kirstjen Nielsen. (3,097)
✔ 58 percent believe the House is definitely moving too slowly toward a Trump impeachment inquiry. Another 24 percent lean yes. (4,344)
✔ 74 percent of you support Bernie Sanders' proposal to ban for-profit charter schools. Another 15 percent lean yes. (4,623)
✔ As far as America’s local governments are concerned, 8 percent rate theirs as excellent, 39 say good, while 36 rate theirs as fair. (2,540)
✔ When it comes to steps the federal government should take to tackle the rise of right-wing domestic terrorism, 99 percent agree it's not doing nearly enough. (3,512)
✔ 86 percent support 2020 contender Julian Castro's police overhaul plan that includes a ban on the transfer of military weaponry to local police forces and an end to racial profiling. (3,212)
✔ 6 percent found that the Republican tax law made filing this year's taxes "an easier and less burdensome task." (3,371)
As always, thanks for participating in our C&J polls. If you’re on Weight Watchers, remember that voting counts as 16 cardiovascular workout points.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Scheduling Note: Thursday we'll be posting our traditional muttontastic July 4, 1776 edition of this column, then follow it with a regular C&J Friday evening and another one next Monday morning. But we'll be off the following week so we can attend the Netroots Nation convention, and a couple days the following week due to our second cataract surgery. However, to make up for the time off, we'll do two C&Js per day during a week in 2022. Please remind us about that sometime in late 2021. Thanks. —Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Robert Mueller testifies before two House committees in open session: 15
Days 'til the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma: 8
Estimated number of children killed in civil war fighting in Yemen since 2013, according to the United Nations: 7,500
Percent of voters who chose Kamala Harris as their #1 Democratic 2020 pick before and after the first debate, respectively, according to a new Morning Consult-Politico poll: 6%, 12%
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's approval/disapproval rating, according to a new VCU Wilder School survey: 37% / 26%
Percent of French adults who believed in 1975 and 2019 that homosexuality is “just another way of living one's sexuality" according to a Jasmin Roy-Sophie Desmarais Foundation survey: 24%, 85%
Estimated increase in my typing speed and accuracy since last week's cataract surgery: 800%
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NEW Tuesday feature! "Packin' for Philadelphia!"
Brought to you by the 2019 Netroots Nation Convention in Philadelphia, July 11-13. Don’t forget that the pre-convention Daily Kos/C&J party is Wednesday, July 10th at Aqimero starting at 6pm, and we'd love to see ya. Details here in Neeta’s post. To RSVP (we have nearly 90 going so far), send her a kosmail here. Today's tidbit involves gardens. Not just any gardens, but "secret" gardens that you'll find around the Independence Mall area. There's a rose garden, an 18th century garden, a magnolia garden, and the Bishop White Garden. Helpful hint from the folks at the Constitutional Walking Tour site:
The gardens themselves are beautiful, but perhaps the best way to enjoy them is by having a picnic! All throughout Independence National Park, lunch carts line the streets offering some of the best street food in America.
While the food at the street carts can be top notch, the dining accommodations often leave something to be desired. Standing roadside breathing in exhaust fumes is no way to enjoy a meal and venturing to the open space of Independence Mall is not much better. The Mall and its directly adjacent parks can get very crowded and extremely hot during the busiest stretch of the summer tourist season.
Walking an extra few blocks to these gardens can provide an opportunity to escape the crowds and enjoy a meal in comfort. The Magnolia and Rose Gardens provide the most open space and seating to enjoy a meal.
I hope they sell man-eating Venus flytraps at one of the gift shops. I have a special 45th president I'd like to send one to.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: The puppies of Chernobyl…
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JEERS to the current state of the nation. As America's 243rd birthday looms large, we pause for a moment to take stock of our current commander-in-chief via the most reliable statisticians and chartmakers the internet has to offer:
His latest act of not-goodness: cordoning off a large swath of the National Mall for toady-only access during his July 4th Me-A-Thon at the Lincoln Memorial, and now we hear that Cadet Bone Spurs is trying again to have a bunch of tanks show up so he can keep up with the Joneses (read: the North Koreans, Russians, and Chinese). Battle tanks would, of course, destroy the pavement in D.C., so the top brass are likely to go with Plan B: throwing a cardboard cutout of a tank over some jeeps and sticking a broom handle out of a hole in the front. As long as the generals salute ‘em, he’ll never know the difference.
CHEERS to leveling the playing field. 55 years ago this week, in 1964, President Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill originally introduced by JFK that secured "equal rights in voting, education, public accommodations, union membership and in federally assisted programs—regardless of race, color, religion or national origin." And that sure pissed off the asshole wing of the American public:
During the debate on the bill, segregationist politicians from America's deep south expressed their disappointment and anger.
Congressman Howard Smith of Virginia called it a "monstrous oppression of the people."
How sweet to know that today's racist apples don’t fall far from the crazy tree. Even with the murders, racial profiling, voter suppression and church burnings, a huge swath of today's conservatives seem to believe that overt discrimination against minorities is a thing of the past, and America is now guilty of discrimination against the poor, defenseless white people. Frankly, I believe that, too. But only when I'm smokin' something really wacky.
JEERS to all hail breaking loose. Down in Mexico, where it oughtta be hotter than Louie Gohmert's brain activity while he's trying to remember how to tie his shoes, residents in Guadalajara got guadalajarred out of a sound slumber when a huge hailstorm nearly buried their cars and damaged, well, pretty much everything:
Jalisco state's civil defense agency began working at dawn to clear ice from the streets, said Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro. Photos posted by the agency showed cars nearly fully covered in hail, and The Associated Press reported that hundreds of homes were damaged.
The hail also blocked drainage systems, which led to severe flooding in some parts of the city. … Following the storm, the temperature on Sunday reached a high of 81 degrees in Guadalajara, according to the AP.
"Can you hear me now?" said Mother Nature as she patted the cover of her new book Climate Crisis for Dummies.
CHEERS to new old digs. The 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 is just two weeks away, and I for one am welcoming the saturation coverage of a subject not involving the 2020 primary or the ongoing train wreck in our executive branch. To mark the occasion, Gene Kranz, the flight director (later played by Ed Harris in the movie Apollo 13) rescued the original mission control room in Houston from decay and disrepair. As of last week it’s its original self again:
"I walked into that room last Monday for the first time when it was fully operational, and it was dynamite. I literally wept," Kranz said in an interview with NPR. "The emotional surge at that moment was incredible. I walked down on the floor, and when we did the ribbon cutting the last two days, believe it or not, I could hear the people talking in that room from 50 years ago. I could hear the controllers talking."
Sandra Tetley, Johnson Space Center's historic preservation officer, worked with contractors to meticulously recreate the room, interviewing former flight controllers and collecting old photos. They scoured websites like eBay to find items from the Apollo era—such as cups, ashtrays and a coffee pot to fill the room.
But there is one new interactive feature they added for tourists passing through. If you push the second red button from the left, it rings the doorbell at the International Space Station. Oh, NASA, you merry pranksters.
CHEERS to open rebellion. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution saying that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." Luckily, Edward Rutledge recorded the whole thing on his smartphone:
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And that, kids, is why we have those awesome July mattress sales.
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Ten years ago in C&J: July 2, 2009
CHEERS to blood in the water. The sharks are circling, and it's getting ugly for a certain South Carolina governor. Apparently he's creeping even his friends out, and that's sayin' something:
Fourteen GOP state senators—more than half the Senate Republican caucus---have already called for Sanford’s resignation, joining a list that, as of Wednesday afternoon, included 11 Republican members of the state House and six of the state's biggest newspapers.
And three leading South Carolina Republican officeholders, including the state’s two U.S. senators, called Sanford today for what sources close to the lawmakers described as frank conversations about the governor’s ability to carry out his job.
Meanwhile, the state Attorney General is launching an investigation to see if Mark Sanford committed any actual crimes under South Carolina law. Here's an easy one you can start with, Mr. McMaster: adultery. (That took me five seconds of Googling, but I'm billing you for the whole hour. Just fill a wheelbarrow with Franklins and we'll call it good.)
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And just one more…
FIRE IN THE HOLE! to freedom fuses after dark. Fireworks are now a fact of life here in Maine (thank you, 2011 Republican-led legislature), but at least sales flat-to-down. In fairness, municipalities are still free to ban fireworks, and Portland is among them (our city has burned down enough times, thanks). Suffice it to say, some of our neighbors are already firing shit off their balcony, and Grampa Billy has the cops on speed-dial. Harumph. And now please join us for our annual pre-4th C&J tradition—reminding ourselves that fireworks are most dangerous when they're in the hands of crazy-ass mannequins:
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And then give a flag-wavin' cheer to America’s official July 4th motto: “The Emergency Room Is Thataway."
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
Cheers and Jeers: Summer's Hottest Kiddie Pool
---CBS News
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