From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
A Word?
There's a list of literally thousands of reasons why America's coolest people depend on Daily Kos every day. And given that PolitiFact just rated the previous sentence "Pants On Fire," you know it must be, at minimum, "Mostly True."
There's also a long list of reasons why it would be a wise and warm-hearted decision on your part to invest in a Daily Kos subscription for yourself or as a gift to a fellow Kossack. But a comment I read yesterday is a thousand times more poignant than any list:
Cheers to the good folks on Kos who keep me sane during difficult days like these...I read countless diaries and comments that move me, inspire me, make me fight for a better future, make me smile....thank you. All.
---GreenMtnState
That's it. That's us. That---^^^^up there^^^^---in 40 plain-spoken words in the voice of Morgan Freeman (that's how I hear it, anyway) summing up the Great Orange Satan. Beautiful.
As I understand it, internet advertising is getting so micro-carved-up that it's now more challenging to raise the revenue needed to keep DKos firing on all cylinders. Think of it as our own fiscal curb/slope, except we lack the authority to raise taxes on billionaires. So now Daily Kos---to coin a phrase---depends on the generosity of viewers like you.
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True Fact: This site was supposed to be called
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And as usual, C&J starts below the fold...
C & J for Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Note: Oakey with a hint of eucalyptus.
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By the Numbers:
Days `til the Chinese New Year (of the snake): 54
Days 'til the San Diego Tango Festival: 8
Drop in consumer prices in November, the first dip in six months: 0.3%
(Source: Commerce Dept.)
Percent of U.S. women who say they plan to spend less on holiday gifts this year: 31%
Percent of men who plan to spend less: 19%
(Source: First Insights survey of 5,800 people via USA Today)
Time it took for the Feb. 9 Des Moines Bacon Festival to sell out of all 8,000 tickets: 4 minutes
Actual height of the fiscal cliff: 3 feet, 8 inches
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
The Honorable Michele Bachmann is exactly right. You have to wonder why a majority of blacks in America voted for Obama who bowed before Muslim dictators. They must want to be slaves under radical Islamic Muslim Sharia law instead of freedom in Christianity. Ignorance is no excuse. Muslims aren't the black's brothers and sisters. Obama voters won't get a wavier from the radical Islamic Muslim terrorists.
---Commenter 1grainsand at World Net Daily
All together now: 1…2…3…
Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Supervising the storyteller….
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CHEERS to Us, We, Together. I'm in agreement with those who believe President Obama's remarks in Newtown were among the most eloquent of his presidency, although it would be nice if his top 10 list didn’t include so many mass-shooting addresses. Anyway, one thing that caught my attention Sunday night was a little riff he did on the "you didn’t build that" theme as it relates to raising kids.
President Obama at the vigil at
Newtown High School Sunday.
"We also know that with that child’s very first step, and each step after that, they are separating from us; that we won’t---that we can’t always be there for them. They’ll suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments. And we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear.
And we know we can’t do this by ourselves. It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize, no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself. That this job of keeping our children safe, and teaching them well, is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation."
I was going to write a detailed analysis of that concept as it applies to business, education, health care, etc. But then my eye caught sight of this Donald Trump
tweet: "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in Newtown Connecticut" Now my brain's all frozen up from agreeing with Donald Trump. Did not see that coming.
CHEERS to one helluva full life. We were sorry to learn yesterday Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye---who worked on Capitol Hill since the Eisenhower presidency (pause and ponder that for a moment---wow) has died:
Senator Inouye dared to use
the "L-word." Good for him!
Hawaii became a state in 1959, and Inouye was the state's first Congressman. He also became the country's first Japanese-American Congressman. ... After the war, he was nominated for the Medal of Honor but did not receive it. President Bill Clinton later bestowed the honor on him and 21 other Japanese-Americans for their courage during World War II...
As a lawmaker in D.C. in 1973, Inouye sat on the panel that investigated the Watergate scandal, according to the Post. He was apparently so frustrated by the testimony of a top White House aide that he whispered, “What a liar!” into a microphone that turned out to be hot.
Our condolences to his family, fellow veterans, friends, colleagues and the constituents he loved so much. Inouye was 88. Too young.
JEERS to Not-So-Great Scott. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley had an opportunity too replace outgoing Tea Party hack Senator Jim DeMint with someone sane and semi-rational in the interest of improving the climate in the theoretically "esteemed" upper chamber. Instead she went with---no, this comes as no shock---another Tea Party hack named Tim Scott. His lowlights, according to Think Progress:
>> Floated impeaching Obama over the debt ceiling.
>> Proposed a bill to cut off food stamps for entire families if one member went on strike.
>> Wanted to spend an unlimited amount of money to display the Ten Commandments outside [a] county building.
>> Defended fairness of giving billions in subsidies to Big Oil.
>> Helped slash South Carolina’s HIV/AIDS budget.
And, of course, he considers unfettered, unregulated gun ownership "a cornerstone of our democracy" Great timing, Nikki. Stay classy.
CHEERS to Springsteen's turf. Happy Boithday, New Joisey! You became our third state on December 18, 1787. Joisey fun facts: the official dinosaur is the Hadrosaurus Foulkii. The official shell is the knobbed whelk. And the official color is spray-on tan.
CHEERS to Election Day III: Elector Boogaloo. Wheeee!!! First we voted in the primaries. Then we voted in the general. And yesterday the 2012 election season came to an official close as the delegates to the electoral college cast their votes for President and Vice President. The results are now signed, sealed and delivered: Barack Hussein Obama has officially been given the green light to remain our 44th President of the United States, with Joe Biden as his wingman. Here's the report from our neck of the woods:
"That's a BFD, BHO!"
"TY, JB!"
[Maine's] four presidential electors formally cast their ballots to re-elect President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Monday, formalizing the Democrats’ victory in last month’s elections.
Maine’s slate of presidential electors were Diane Denk of Kennebunk representing 1st Congressional District, Marianna Stevens of Kingfield representing 2nd District, and at-large electors Craig Hickman of Winthrop, a newly sworn-in state representative, and Jill Duson of Portland. They met in the Maine House chamber to cast their votes.
On our to-do list today, at long last:
spike that football in the end zone, baby!!!!!
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Four years ago in C&J: December 18, 2008
CHEERS to good omens. The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments by Norm Coleman's chief kneecapper yesterday for why voters who did nothing wrong should have their ballots tossed into the dustbin of history. Eric Kleefeld at TPM reports that it didn’t go well. For Coleman, that is:
Things started off on the wrong foot for Coleman's attorney Roger Magnuson right when he opened with political sloganeering, saying that the state canvassing board had "accepted an invitation to Florida in 2008." He was immediately interrupted by justices telling him that this is not Florida, and they don't need to be told about Florida. Things only went downhill from there.
It's believed to be the first time the words "Squeal like a pig" have been uttered by a panel of judges. In unison.
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And just one more…
JEERS to the whiner of the week. As you're likely aware, Mainers voted to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples last month. Because of the historic significance of this new law, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan announced that City Hall would open at 12:01 on December 29---this one night---so that gay couples can apply for their licenses as soon as possible. How nice!!! But, of course, no good deed goes unpunished. Some jerk just had to go quill-and-ink-crazy and carrier-pigeon a letter to the editor of The Portland Press Herald. Janet Mowatt, please explain to the Daily Kos community why you're upset:
"...and your little dog, too!"
One minute after the gay marriage law goes into effect! It certainly didn't take long for the gays to start receiving special treatment.
When is the last time Portland City Hall opened its doors after midnight, and on a Saturday no less, just so a heterosexual couple could obtain a marriage license? Never! No matter what kind of reasoning we could come up with for City Hall to open early, we are made to wait until regular business hours.
City Hall should change their business hours sign on their front door to read "M-F 8-4; Sat. Hrs. (gays only) 12:01-3 a.m." That sounds to me like a special privilege.
Dammit. She's on to us. I think we should move to Plan B: anyone wanting to get a marriage license at City Hall at midnight should come incognito to ward off further criticism. To blend in, please arrive dressed like a marble column. [
Wink.]
Have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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