From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Today's the Day!
Let 'em hear ya in the governor's mansion!
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Boot those Gooper nuts!
Whack Scott Walker and his cronies
For their crazy cuts.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Vote 'em out today!
All eyes are watching
Make those mad loons pay!
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Let 'em feel your clout!
Show the Koch boys who's in charge there
Kick the bastards out!
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Cheesedems crash the gate!
Hist'ry's a callin'
And polls close at eight!
---With apologies to J. S. Hubbard and Charles D. Rosa
(I'll have you know that, for the first time in my life, I made an exception to my ironclad rule that no fight song other than OSU's is permitted to slosh around in my brain. It was worth it!)
Summary of the candidates in fatcathobbes diary. Action steps via Barb.
Oh, and Republicans? Make sure you get out there and do your duty, too, bright and early tomorrow, August 10th. (Oops! That was a "misprint," I swear! Complete accident. Bad Billy.)
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Note: C&J has been downgraded from Grade-A snark to Grade-B dreck. No need to panic, as it's nothing we can't fix by the end of the decade with an infusion of several billion dollars.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the Iowa straw poll in Ames: 4
Days `til the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia: 2
Amount airlines generated from ancillary fees (checked bags, extra legroom, changing reservations, etc.) in 2010: $21.5 billion
Amount generated in 2007: 2.45 billion
(Source: The Portland Press Herald)
Percent of adults aged 19-64 who say they had trouble paying their medical bills last year, up from 34 percent in 1995: 40%
(Source: Parade)
Percent of Americans who should have trouble paying their medical bills: 0%
Height of the world's largest pistachio nut, in Alamogordo, NM: 30 feet
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
I wonder how many kids have apple and/or pollen allergies? Human physiology varies from person to person. One person’s apples are another’s poison. Are regulators and perhaps Michelle Obama trying to kill me with their “good intentions”? And don’t they care about the children?
---Dr. Helen Smith at Pajamas Media
All together now: 1…2…3… Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Three were saved...
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JEERS to that strangely familiar feeling. Going through my symptoms checklist: Icy fingers squeezing my stomach in a death grip? Check. Glazed-over eyeballs? Check. Flies swarming around half-eaten sandwich still visible in open mouth? Check. Prague? Czech. (Sorry.) 401(k) back on life-support? Check. Hyperventilating? Check. Adult diapers securely fastened? Oh, shit---I always forget something. Yes, friends, it was a good old-fashioned stock market crash, with breathless CNBC talking heads chattering away and squiggly lines going down…down…down. I was borderline despondent yesterday until I realized there's a way out of this mess: 1) Stay calm, and 2) Forbid Rick Perry from praying for America's salvation ever again.
JEERS to not-so-comforting thoughts. In the wake of S&P's ridiculous downgrade, America's economic stability and tranquility is now literally in the hands of a company called...Moody's. Ben Franklins, meet mattress.
JEERS to the worst news. Just a quick reminder that war is hell, and people get killed, including large numbers of civilians and, sometimes, our own troops, which is why there should always be a clearly-defined mission with vast public support, tax increases to pay for it, and grand sacrifice on the part of business and the civilian population stateside. Glad we sorted that out. Meanwhile, over the weekend we learned that 30 U.S. troops, and 8 Afghans, were killed when their helicopter was shot down by the Taliban with an RPG that probably cost 20 bucks at Arms 'Я' Us. And given the appropriate outpouring of grief over those 30 Americans, I find my self wondering how we handled it when hundreds or thousands of deaths were reported day after day after day during, say, World War II or Vietnam---it must've been flat-out nightmarish. If there's any silver lining at all to our recent military engagements, it's that those days are gone for the foreseeable future. Looking forward to the day when we all just settle our disputes with a good old-fashioned game of paintball.
CHEERS and JEERS to the "Fat Man." 66 years ago, on August 9, 1945, three days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, we did the same thing to Nagasaki. The bad news: it killed 74,000 people and caused unspeakable damage that lingers to this day. The good news: there was no third one.
CHEERS to moments when you know your cause on the right track. Last night the American Bar Association awarded its rarely-ever-awarded American Bar Association Medal to David Boies and Ted Olson, who together brought California's Proposition 8 to its knees and dealt a possibly mortal blow to every anti-gay-marriage law in the country, including the odious "Defense of Marriage Act." That's essentially a green light by the 400,000-member organization---a microcosm of the American legal system itself---for the legality and constitutionality of the notion that GLBT Americans ought to be 100 percent equal to their straight counterparts. Meanwhile, gay marriage's biggest foe, Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization of Marriage, also got an award from the ABA. Nah, just pullin' your leg---she spent the evening at home with her canary watching Nancy Grace, trying not to think about her crumbling empire. And the ice cream had freezer burn.
CHEERS to happy endings. On August 9, 1842, the U.S. and Canada peaceably resolved their border dispute with the signing the Webster-Ashburton Treaty:
This treaty marked the end of unofficial fighting (known informally as the Aroostook War) along the Maine border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and resolved issues that had led to the Indian Stream dispute as well as the Caroline Affair. The border was fixed with the disputed territory divided between the two nations. The British acquired the Halifax-Quebec road route they desired. Also, as a result of this treaty, portions of the US-Canada border were adjusted so as to give the US negligibly more land to the north.
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty failed to clarify ownership of Machias Seal Island and nearby North Rock, which remain in dispute today.
Our catapults are at the ready, just in case they fix to get some crazy notion of staging a midnight raid on our gunpowder and womenfolk. Without leaving their usual dozen cases of Molson in exchange, I mean.
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Five years ago in C&J: August 9, 2006
CHEERS to the victor. Ned Lamont wins his U.S. Senate primary race against Joe Lieberman. (One election down, one to go.) The New York Times summed up Joe Lieberman's loss well yesterday:
When Mr. Lieberman told The Washington Post, "I haven't changed. Events around me have changed," he actually put his finger on his political problem. His constituents felt that when the White House led the country into a disastrous international crisis and started subverting the nation's basic traditions, Joe Lieberman should have changed enough to take a lead in fighting back.
He's taking a lead in fighting back, alright...against thems who brung him to the dance. Is it too late to take back my vote from 2000?
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And just one more…
CHEERS to Jeopardy: Tuesday C&J Edition. We take you now to our regularly-scheduled game show already in progress:
Contestant: I'll take "Strange Bedfellows" for $400," Alex.
Alex: Name a sitting Democratic senator who is known for having conservative leanings and often stands in the way of the party's progress on important issues.
Contestant: Who are Ben Nelson, Kent Conrad, Mark Warner, Joe Manchin…
Alex: Okay, okay, we just needed one. All four are correct, as well as others. Pick again.
Contestant: "Strange Bedfellows" for $800, Alex.
Alex: Name the popular term used to describe a retired senator like Mark O. Hatfield, who died Sunday and was hailed as a "Republican Champion of Liberal Causes."
Contestant: What is a…"vanishing breed?"
Alex: You are correct.
Sadly. Hatfield was 89. Which, coincidentally, matches the number of feet by which he towers above the current crop of ideological barnacles on the right. We're doomed.
Have a nice Tuesday. Think fast! Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
A CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday revealed that eight in 10 Americans say they disapprove of how Bill in Portland Maine is handling his job---the highest number in the poll's history since 1977.
---Rebecca Stewart
8/4/11
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