From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Polls Reveal: Polls Revealing
Well, 2012 is hurtling down the tracks at a brisk enough pace. The second quarter is now behind us, and that means it's C&J number-crunching time. Every few months we post the results of some recent C&J polls (no relation to PPP polls commissioned by Kos) to give you a snapshot of what Kossacks think about…y'know…stuff. The total number of votes each poll received is in parentheses:
- In early June, 29 percent thought the Supreme Court would rule that the health insurance mandate is constitutional by a 5-4 vote. 17 percent thought they'd rule in our favor by a 6-3 margin. 40 percent thought it'd be found unconstitutional by a 5-4 margin. (5,278)
- Of the Supreme Court Justices, 53 percent admire Ruth Bader Ginsburg most, followed by Sonia Sotomayor at 18 percent and and Stephen Breyer at 10 percent. (4,567)
- 83 percent tend to feel more optimistic about life when the Republican-led House is in recess for a week. (2,964)
- 44 percent think the smartest way the Obama campaign should frame Mitt Romney is as a serial flip-flopper, while 36 percent think he should be framed as a "distant and aloof elitist" and 16 percent chose his self-description as a "severe conservative" as the best frame. (4,984)
- When Newt Gingrich left the race, 25 percent thought his silliest moment during the campaign was suggesting that janitors should be fired and replaced with children. 21 percent thought it was his claim that he cheated on his wife out of a sense of patriotism. (4,257)
- 51 percent of you have attended a GLBT pride parade or pride festival (3,007)
- 73 percent have read a book by late author/illustrator Maurice "Where the Wild Things Are" Sendak (4,022)
- 95 percent support passage of a new Glass-Steagall law that would separate high-risk investment banking activity from more traditional banking activity. (5,760)
- 77 percent think Mitt Romney lies more than previous GOP presidential nominees. 21 percent say he lies about the same as previous nominees. (4,834)
- 95 percent support President Obama's executive action to ease up on deportation enforcement for young undocumented immigrants. (5,665)
As always, thanks for participating in our polls. And please: use your super-human brain power responsibly. For good, not evil. Except, of course, on National Use Your Super-Human Brain Power For Evil Day. Duh.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, July 2, 2012
Note: Due to the insertion of a leap-second over the weekend, all employees may choose to receive either one second of overtime pay in their next check, or one second of comp time. Please let Gladys in HR know by noon. Thx. ---Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Halloween: 121
Days 'til the 30th annual Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls, Maine: 12
Number of seniors who have saved money on prescription drugs since the Affordable Care Act went into effect: 5.3 million
(Source: USA Today)
Average wait time to get a patent: 34 months
Potential wait time for companies who qualify for the new fast-track option: 12 months
(Source: Fast Company)
Percent of SuperPAC donations that come from women (nearly half of them by Gingrich supporter Miriam Adelson): 20%
(Source: Time)
Phone number that Oregonians can call to report Japanese tsunami debris that's washed up on the shore: 211
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Puppy Pic of the Day: "What…too soon?"
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CHEERS to July! America turns 236 (but, thanks to a recent facelift and boob job, we don’t look a day over 235) and Canada turns 145. It's also National Baked Beans Month and National Ice Cream Month, and on the 11th we'll be celebrating something called Feest van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Translation: Feast of the horny gerbils). New Spiderman and Batman movies come out. As of Friday we'll be a mere four months from re-electing President Obama in a landslide. In Maine, July holds the distinction of being the only month that comes with a no-snow guarantee, but we still salt our driveway every morning, anyway, out of habit. Okay, last one in the pool's a rotten egg---Cannonball!!!
CHEERS to the voice of reason. Yeah, yeah. I watched the Sunday morning shows yesterday to see how they were spinning the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. It was as I expected: most Democrats still don’t quite know how to sell it enthusiastically, and Republicans still claim it's the end of civilization as we know it. But roundtable guest Keith Olbermann towered (literally---he's 6'3") over the rest of the panel on ABC's This Week, and delivered the best summation of what the ACA means for America:
"It speaks to something fundamental about nature of any government. We all agree---conservative, liberal and everyone in between---that the primary function of any government is to protect its citizens. We usually think of this in terms of the Department of Defense. It now becomes, as the world situation becomes in many respects more secure, the primary part of what happens in hospitals. If you've ever spent a lot of time in hospitals with people and talked to people…as I did when my dad was sick for seven months in the surgical ICU, I saw everybody in that hospital. I saw patients. I saw families trying to decide whether or not they could afford the same care that my dad, as a veteran, got for 800 dollars. And anything that moves the ball towards the primary role of our government---protecting its citizens---will be seen in a general as a positive thing. And those who stand against it will probably suffer, if not in the short term than the long term."
Exactly. Now get this man another show already.
CHEERS to leveling the playing field. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill that secured "equal rights in voting, education, public accommodations, union membership and in federally assisted programmes---regardless of race, colour, 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".
Takes one to know one, pal. But one modern-day VIP has stated his opposition to it as recently as 2010…proudly and on the record.
United States Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). He believes that overt discrimination can best be overcome through free-market capitalism, but in the meantime separate drinking fountains and restrooms and "White Christians Only" rules at restaurants should be A-OK. That makes perfect sense to me. But only when I've guzzled enough PBR to choke a horse.
CHEERS to riding to the rescue. Gold star to Judge Daniel P. Jordan, who issued a temporary restraining order yesterday that will keep Mississippi's only abortion-services clinic---located in Jackson---open for at least a while longer. The clinic was expected to be close yesterday as a result of another in a long string of Republican "Jobs Jobs Jobs" (read: "Abortion Abortion Abortion") bills that have been clogging up legislative agendas around the country ever since the tea party ascendency of 2010. The next hearing will be on July 11, and the law's backers will have a tough time proving that it wasn't passed for any reason other than as an offering to the angry god of the Old Testament. Because apparently leaving out a plate of cookies for the Old Man at night would just be silly.
JEERS to false alarms. Cover your ears. Everyone…
[BZZZT!!! BZZZT!!! AHOOOO-GAH!!!]
ATTENTION REPUBLICANS:
The National Waffler Service has CANCELLED a Mitt Romney Base Abandonment WATCH in the following area: Immigration:
Mitt Romney accidentally floated a new immigration position in an interview with conservative site Newsmax on Friday, suggesting that he favored a path to permanent status for young illegal immigrants through higher education. The campaign quickly walked the position back when confronted with the discrepancy by TPM. … "He simply misspoke in this interview.”
If this had been a real Mitt Romney Base Abandonment Watch, you would've been directed to the nearest online "Chris Christie in 2016" support shelter. Please keep your radio tuned to this station for future watches and warnings---because you know they're comin'. Now back to your regularly-scheduled blogging…
It's okay, Governor Brewer...you can climb out of the cellar now.
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 had a camera phone and recorded the whole THING on his smartphone. I knew it---Hancock was a nose picker!
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Seven years ago in C&J: July 2, 2005
JEERS to the Chimp-in-Chief. As expected Bush's Tuesday speech was a ratings bomb. And now 42% of American voters say they're open to impeachment hearings if they find out Bush lied about the Iraq war. You crafty citizenry...you have been paying attention!
JEERS to bait and switch. While everyone's eyes are focused on the ailing William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor resigns and sneaks out the back door, depriving us of a Supreme Court justice who swung with the best of 'em. (Notable exception: Bush v. Gore, which was 100% political and 100% shameful.) Ugh...let the replacement shitstorm begin. [7/2/12 Update: We got John Roberts. Yaaayy!!! Booooo!!! Mostly the latter.]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the do-gooders among us. Every Friday our C&J poll asks, "Who won the week?" Obviously a subjective thing, but we do try to round up a dozen or so representative samples every week of the people and events that spark feelings of pride and optimism in the Kossack pectoral region. Thanks to your smarts and good sense, the Class of the Second Quarter of 2012 is a good-lookin' bunch, and the president unambiguously got back into our good graces. The envelopes, please…
Apr. 6 Coke, Kraft Foods and Pepsi, for discontinuing their membership with the anti-American star chamber known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
Apr 13 Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker, for heroically rushing into a burning house to save the life of a woman trapped inside
Apr 20 The penguin that bit Newt Gingrich
Apr 27 The 40,000 Norwegians in Oslo who sang a Pete Seeger song in Youngstorget square to piss off mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, who hates it
May 4 President Obama---Surprise Afghanistan trip, Correspondents Dinner stand-up; running policy circles around 'severely conservative' empty suit Mitt Money. "Forward!"
May 11 President Obama: April budget surplus, gay marriage statement, beating Romney 2-to-1 on likeability…and love yur VP!
May 18 The New York Times, for exposing billionaire Joe Ricketts' plan to smear President Obama in ads featuring Rev. Jeremiah Wright
May 25 The NAACP, for endorsing gay marriage 'unequivocally'
June 1 Tie: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (one Democrat and 2 Republicans) who ruled 3-0 that the Defense of Marriage Act is, indeed, unconstitutional...and The Justice Department, for getting involved in the purge of Democrats, Latinos and the elderly from voter rolls in Florida
June 8 N/A (Netroots Nation)
June 15 President Obama: Immigration order, Ohio speech, visit to new World Trade Center building
June 22 Vagina Monologues writer Eve Ensler, who performed a reading of it from the steps of the Michigan State House with 9 female Democratic state Representatives
June 29 President Obama: SCOTUS victories on immigration and health care reform, home-run campaign speeches, visit to fire-ravaged Colorado
Who will the winners be in the third quarter? I'm sworn to secrecy, but here's a hint: one of them has letters in her name. Stay tuned!
Have a nice Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"Bill in Portland Maine provides endless fodder. He contradicts himself. He repeats himself. He stands at a sort of anti-heroic role in our culture. Heres a man who makes Richard III look like a nice guy."
---Jack Shafer
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