From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Incivility? Really???
I'm not surprised she decided to hang up her Senate spurs. These last few years Olympia Snowe has, to me, had the look of a burned out ball of disappointment. I think the joy of senatorialzing just up and left her. And I can't say I blame her. When she says the partisanship has gotten unbearable, she means from her own team---the "not intended to be a factual statement" wing of our government. That's gotta suck.
Because no fucking way have Democrats become more radical---today the "center" position in this country is basically the liberal position, but good luck getting the monkeys in the D.C. bubble to acknowledge that. Just look at the "very serious" Sunday morning talk shows, where conservative guests consistently outnumber liberal ones (and also where men outnumber women to an embarrassing degree). The moderators typically challenge them with all the force of a feather duster.
To its credit, yesterday's lead editorial in the Portland Press Herald correctly put the blame for the partisan rancor squarely on "Hard-core conservatives, especially those associated with the tea party" with their "rigid ideology that must be served at the expense of all other considerations." And that got me to wondering just how those "rigid" folks were reacting to Snowe's announcement in the hard-core conservative blogosphere. These are from a thread at Tea Party Republican Michelle Malkin's blog, and all I can say is: Reagan's so-called 11th Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican," is dead as a doornail...
Glad to see another RINO rat bastard hit the road; As we all know, the Demoprogs are intent on destroying our great Republic, but they would have made no progress whatsoever over the last 100 years were it not for the willing assistance of the likes of the abominable Snowe lady and others!
Hallelujah!!!! Our good news for the day.
Maybe she’ll have enough spare time to pluck her eyebrows.
Let’s make sure to get tea party candidate to run with really strong conservative credentials! We’ll sure show those moderate Mainards a thing or two.
No tears here – she was a RINO of the worst order. There is not a conservative molecule in that big caterpillar-browed bimbo. Good riddance!
I don’t trust any Republican politician on the East Coast. We’ve already been destroyed by Scott Brown of Assachusetts. They have no conservative spine on that side of the country. Bunch of octopus.
I hear she and Mr. Spanikopita will be heading to Crete soon to start a whole foods store.
We’ve got to find some returning veterans like Allen West to serve their country in public life and shake up this state.
Sure got quiet in here all of a sudden. Did someone fart?
I took that as my cue to leave. Well, that plus the vitriol was burning holes in my body armor.
Oh, and one more thing. It's my understanding there's a massive nationwide groundswell of support for recruiting me to run for Snowe's seat. I accept your offer, but I'll need one thing first: a billionaire who's potty trained and doesn’t pull on the leash. Oh, and also a fresh toga. So I guess that's two things. Yay---my first flip flop!
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, March 1, 2012
Note: That wall calendar isn’t gonna flip itself, you know.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Spring: 19
Days `til the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry in Virginia City, Nevada: 16
Percent of Americans who support President Obama's plan to tax the wealthiest Americans more: 65%
Percent of self-identified conservatives who support it: 50%
(Source: AP/GfK poll)
Percent chance that hard financial data supports the statement, "Stocks Return More With Democrat in White House": 100%
(Source: Bloomberg via Kossack thenekkidtruth)
Approximate increase in sperm donors during the height of the Bush recession: 15-20%
Minimum number of sperm per ejaculation for an "ideal" donor: 300 million
(Source: Sperm Donors, Inc. via Details)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
If you do not pretend to believe everything Bush says, then you are unpatriotic, against Our Troops and probably in support of gay marriage. Those Europeans understand nothing.
Speaking of unsatisfactory allies, Canada has had the nerve (!) to announce it does not want to be under our nuclear shield, if we ever get it built. Gee, how could it not want to buy into (and help pay for) our Star Wars defense system? Just because it doesn't work and costs the earth? Well, they're partly French, you know.
---March, 2005
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Feel the burn…
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CHEERS to March! Highlights of the month that will soon erupt into madness: Coming in like a lion (big snow storm here today, judging by all the LOUD STORM CENTER MUSIC THEMES on the local news---plus all the snow that's falling). Super Tuesday becomes Newt Gingrich's last stand. HBO's Game Change airs on the 10th and earns Julianne Moore an Emmy. Also: Purim, Daylight Saving Time, St. Patrick's Day, Worship of Tools Day (not sure if they mean the screwdriver or the Scott Walker variety), Something-on-a-Stick Day, Spring(!!!)…and then exiting like a lamb. Oh, and don’t forget the infamous "Ides." Plus this: as of today we've made it through one-sixth of 2012. Slap another gold star on your tuckus.
P.S. Oh, yeah, and---ugh---tornadoes. I could do without those, thank you.
CHEERS to getting the boot…with an 'h' at the end of it. This year Netroots Nation is giving away six free booths in the exhibition hall at our Providence convention in June, and the entries now need your votes. The skinny from Linda Lee:
Voting will take place online starting Wednesday, February 29th and ending on Wednesday, March 14th at 9:00 pm PT. As a reminder, the top 3 vote-getters get a free booth and two comped regs to NN12. The rest go into a second round, and a panel of judges will decide, on merit, what other three entrants will receive a free booth. Only one vote per entry, per person. So go ahead, vote below for your favorite organization or company!
To check out the entries and vote,
click here. And extend that pinky, you mouse slouch.
CHEERS to helping hands. The Peace Corps turns 51 today. President Kennedy's executive order gave it the green light on March 1, 1961, and pretty soon the organization may experience a little deja vu:
Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams said Tuesday at the University of Florida that he expects baby boomers, who made up the first wave of Peace Corps volunteers as young people, will return to the program or join for the first time as they retire in the years ahead. "We welcome all ages if you want to serve," he said. […]
Williams said that Peace Corps needs to improve recruitment, as there are more opportunities for international service today than when the program started. But he said that Peace Corps still has advantages in having volunteers who are able to "walk that last mile" that other groups are unable to reach. "As I look around the world and I look at the opportunity for Americans to become global citizens, the Peace Corps is still the gold standard of service," he said.
Fifty-one years later, it's still "The toughest job you'll ever love." Especially if you bring a few cases of Bacardi. And limes. Without limes it's intolerable.
CHEERS to "a modest first step." Hillary Clinton scores again! This time she's persuaded North Korea---yeah, Axis of Evil North Korea!---to quit acting like dicks and throttle back on the nuckear cuckoo'ry:
A freeze on nuclear activity, if it holds, could significantly ease anxieties over North Korea’s behavior at a time when the Obama administration, in an election year, is focused on halting Iran’s nuclear program and reducing the possibility that Israel could attack Iran. The last significant effort to negotiate a dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons collapsed in the waning weeks of George W. Bush’s presidency more than four years ago.
Yeah. He had that effect on a lot of things.
JEERS to Illinois' ill annoyances. Republicans are such a diverse bunch---homophobes, bigots, warmongers, religious fanatics…oh, and the occasional holocaust denier:
A congressional candidate running as a Republican in the upcoming Illinois primary says the "Holocaust never happened." Arthur Jones, 64, a Lyons, IL, insurance salesman who organizes family-friendly, neo-Nazi events around Adolph Hitler's birthday, hopes to be the Republican candidate chosen to run against Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.
"As far as I'm concerned, the Holocaust is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews," Jones said. "It's the blackest lie in history."
Hey, Arthur! Got a message for ya from Mahmud Ahmadinejahd for ya: "Quit stealing my act."
CHEERS to...Marryland!!! Today's the day Governor Martin O'Malley puts pen to parchment in the Old Line State:
The legislation, making Maryland the eighth U.S. state to legalize gay and lesbian nuptials, heads to Governor Martin O'Malley's desk for his signature at a ceremony at 5 p.m. on Thursday, his office said. The Democratic governor has supported the measure and promised to sign it once it was passed by lawmakers. The state Senate voted in favor of the bill last week after it was passed by the House of Delegates.
Of course, the crowd for whom equality is a four-letter word in Maryland is already swarming to try and put a referendum on the November ballot to overturn the law. Their bumper sticker slogan: "Over My Dead Divorce Papers!"
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One year ago in C&J: March 1, 2011
CHEERS to the middle of the end. In Libya, it's all over for Muammar Khaddafi but the last-ditch escape attempt disguised as an old lady sitting in the back of a VW bus careening crazily for the border. He's toast. His assets are frozen, his buddies are bailing, the freedom fighters are closing in, the U.N. is likely booting him from…um, the human rights commission? How the hell did Libya get on that??? Oh, and memo to The Hague: he'll need his prison stripes in size XL. And a Medium for his invisible rabbit friend. [3/1/12 Update: On second thought, that won't be necessary, thx.]
JEERS to 100% pure cynicism whipped up in less than two seconds. My partner Michael got the winter issue of his health insurance company's generic and irrationally exuberant magazine in the mail the other day. The cover-story headline says: "How to get the care you need." Easy: figure out how to poop gold bullion into your bedpan.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the swingiest swing state in all of Swingdom. I was hatched at Mercy Hospital in Mount Vernon, Ohio in August of 1964, and that makes me a dyed-in-the-wool Buckeye, baby. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my home state---209 years old today. Seven mostly-crappy presidents (including the second-worst to Bush, Jr.---Harding) hail from Ohio. It's the only state whose flag is a pennant. And we're the proud birthplace of Steven Spielberg, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Orville Wright, Clark Gable, Jack Nicklaus, Gloria Steinem…and one or two others. Oh, also some people say Nebraska was admitted to the union on this date in 1867. Can't say I'm familiar with it, but I'll take 'em at their word.
Have a lovely March day. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Can we see the fruits of superior reasoning in Cheers and Jeers? The answer is yes.
---Steven Pinker
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