From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
The Week Ahead
Monday The Senate votes to invoke cloture and pave the way for a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which will funnel $700 billion to the military-industrial complex. It will then turn to the task of ramming through the latest Republican plan to destroy affordable health insurance in America before the reconciliation deadline passes on the 30th. Because, y’know, priorities.
The Daily Kos community rises up by the tens of thousands to raise holy hell about the Graham-Cassidy amendment by calling their senators and giving them a firm-but-polite earful.
Tuesday President Trump delivers a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Everyone in attendance will turn the dial on their special Bose translation headphones to the “light samba” setting.
Hillary Clinton sits down for a chat with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. Hopefully they’ll find time to go on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater and thwack some golf balls at a Trump mannequin.
Wednesday All eyes are on the Federal Reserve's Policy Committee meeting to see if Janet Yellen plans to raise interest rates. She spends the first five minutes toying with the banksters' nerves by producing a coin and announcing, "Okay, guys, heads yes, tails no, best five outta nine, here we goooo…"
Faced with likely defeat in Saturday’s election, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s opponents make a last ditch promise of “A schnitzel in every pot and a Mercedes in every garage.”
Thursday An astrological web site says that “The light-hearted Libra Moon will run smack into an engagement with unforgiving Pluto around noon, thus sparking moods and quiet worries about perceived social rebuffs.” Or as it’s called on Twitter and Facebook: a day ending in y.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Al Franken analyzes the current state of governmental affairs via deep intellectual analysis and senatorial gravitas. With jokes!
Friday Opening in theaters: Battle of the Sexes, a recounting of the tennis match watched by 90 million viewers between Billie Jean King and male chauvinist Bobby Riggs. Donald Trump refuses to watch it, claiming he just assumes that “the chick loses.”
All week long Blacks suffer disproportionately horrible treatment at the hands of police. Because, hey, why mess with a time-honored American tradition?
Saddle up. Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, September 18, 2017
Note: This is a little tickler to start looking around for cool items to add to the annual Netroots Nation auction, which will get underway in mid-October. C&J is donating some must-haves we brought back from visits to The King Center and The Carter Library (hint: we brought back the entire Carter library on a flatbed) while we were at the Atlanta convention last month, plus a few added surprises. More details to come when the official announcement is made (soon!), but for now start looking between your couch cushions and rifling through your attic for possible donations. The universe thanks you.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til autumn: 4
Days 'til the Lights Fest in Chicago: 12
Percent of Americans who can name all three branches of government, according the Annenberg Public Policy Center: 26%
Percent who can’t name a single First Amendment right: 37%
Minimum number dead and wounded, respectively, in terrorist attacks in southern Iraq last week, which garnered about a thousandth of the media coverage as the bomb on the London train that injured 29: 80/90
Minimum amount the Forest Service has spent to battle the 60+ wildfires in ten states this year: $2 billion
Number of names submitted to Crayola for its new blue color before the public voted to call it “Bluetiful”: 90,000
Totally Random NFL score
New England Patriots 36 New Orleans Saints 20
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Fourth time’s the charm…
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CHEERS to tightening the vise grip on Lord Dampnut’s damp nuts. I’m starting to imagine what Robert Mueller’s final report might look like when he wraps up his investigation of the nexus between Russia, social media, Wikileaks and the Trump crime syndicate, and the only word that comes to mind is ‘thick.’ In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he releases it as a mega-trilogy, like Lord of the Rings, with a new epic installment issued every year. Because this thing is getting crazy complicated…
FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly obtained a search warrant for records of the "inauthentic" accounts Facebook shut down earlier this month and the targeted ads these accounts purchased during the 2016 election. […]
Legal experts say the revelation has enormous implications for the trajectory of Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference, and whether Moscow had any help from President Donald Trump's campaign team. "This is big news---and potentially bad news for the Russian election interference 'deniers,'" said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI counterintelligence agent. […]
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti, now a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP, said that the revelation Mueller obtained a search warrant for Facebook content "may be the biggest news in the case since the Manafort raid."
Or as it’s also known: the biggest poke in the history of Facebook.
JEERS to pre-conceived conclusions. Wow---another white cop goes free after pumping several bullets into a black man (after a car chase), followed by a final “kill shot” at point-blank range, followed by the planting of a gun in the suspect’s car to make it look like he was armed. As protesters took to the streets of St. Louis over the weekend, Anthony Lamar Smith’s killer sat in front of a camera in an undisclosed location following Judge Timothy Wilson’s verdict and played the “poor little me” card:
"It feels like a burden has been lifted, but the burden of having to kill someone never really lifts," Stockley told the Post-Dispatch.
"The taking of a life is the most significant thing that one can do, and it's not something that is done lightly and it's not something that should ever be celebrated. And it's just a horrible experience altogether. But, sometimes, it's necessary."
What you have to separateare the optics from the facts, and if a person is unwilling to do that, thenthey've already made up their mind and the facts just don't matter. To thosepeople, there's nothing that I can do to change their minds."
Yes, basing a verdict on optics would be bad. Somebody should tell that to the judge, who concluded his ruling with: “Finally, the court observes, based on its nearly thirty years on the bench, that an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.” Yeah---almost as anomalous as a white cop getting convicted of murdering an armed black man.
CHEERS to Maine's "#1" gal. Sixty-nine years ago, on September 18, 1948, Margaret Chase Smith from the GREAT STATE OF MAINE became the first woman elected to the United States Senate---without completing a term started by another senator---when she beat Democrat Adrian Scolten. (Her campaign slogan was a bit clunky: "My Sentiments Are With Margaret Chase Smith.")
It also made her the first woman to be both a U.S. representative and senator, and in 1964 she became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for president. She came in second. Or as the menfolk in the modern GOP like to say: "As it should be."
CHEERS and JEERS to moolah matters. I admit I don’t know a portfolio thingamabob or a fiduciary whirligig from a hole in the ground, so I rely on headlines to keep me just informed enough on how things are going economically to keep me from panicking and fleeing to my secret underground safe room. (Pay no attention to that hatch in our basement floor---it leads to nowhere, I tell you!) Here’s some good, bad and ugly to start the week:
> Hurricanes will disrupt U.S. economy, then likely lead to boost
> Consumer prices rise 0.4% in August
> Google slapped with lawsuit over pay bias against women
> FTC confirms probe of Equifax breach
> Elizabeth Warren's Equifax bill would make credit freezes free
> Angry Birds targets $1 billion IPO
> Trump now says "I like" Fed Chair Janet Yellen
> In 2016, the median American household income finally topped 1999 peak
> Pro-labor issues lead Canada’s push for NAFTA changes spurred by Trump
> Sliding NFL ratings could throw networks for a loss
> Amazon shopping for a second home, wants prime location with room to grow
And this: Pumpkin Spice Twinkies are back. Our long national nightmare is over.
JEERS to other priorities. Once again, the conservative side of the political spectrum promised that their Saturday Trump-worshipping “Mother of All Rallies” in our nation’s capital would attract a crowd so bigly yuge that it would mark the tipping point of a new world order based on the mantra “America First” and dedicated to the proposition that only right-wing white men are created equal. You don’t need to be Nostradamus to predict how things turned out...or didn’t turn out:
They were far outnumbered by another rally that happened at the same time on the National Mall---the annual “Juggalos” gathering. It’s important to know the difference between the two groups: the Juggalos are devoted followers of Insane Clown Posse, and the MOARs are devoted followers of an insane clown posse.
CHEERS to notable promotions. On September 18 in the year 335, Dalmatius was raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Historians believe Constantine had a bad case of the flu at the time. When asked out of concern what his temperature was, he responded: "101, Dalmatius."
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Ten years ago in C&J: September 18, 2007
CHEERS to Anybody But Gonzales. Here come da judge! Here come da judge! How likely is it that Michael Mukasey will win confirmation as the new Attorney General? If he shows up at the Democrats' doorstep with flowers, he's in.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to must-see TV. The Emmy Awards were handed out last night. Stephen Colbert let loose with some decent snark, and major awards were won by SNL, Veep, The Handmaid’s Tale (or as Mike Pence calls it, “Life’s Little Instruction Manual”) and John Oliver’s second consecutive win for his HBO series Last Week Tonight. Here are some memorable speech excerpts and zingers:
"So many great African-American nominees…[such as] Bill Maher. I assume he's black since he's so comfortable using the n-word."
---Stephen Colbert
“Thank you, Hillary Clinton, for your grace and grit.”
---Kate McKinnon, supporting actress (comedy) winner for SNL
"Perhaps I should say: at long last Mr. President, here is your Emmy."
---Alec Baldwin accepting his Emmy for playing Trump on SNL
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Jane Fonda: Back in 1980, in [9 to 5], we refused to be intimidated by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.
Lily Tomlin: And in 2017 we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.
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“#DCPublicSchools”
---The hashtag that winner John Oliver told everyone to tweet “just for the hell of it.” It soon became #2 on the trending list.
"The things that make us different---those are our super powers."
---Lena Waithe, the first African American and openly-lesbian nominee to win for comedy writing (Master of None)
[Sigh] Still no legacy award for Hogan's Heroes. Maybe next year.
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Jesus, Bill in Portland Maine, does Russia have a pee tape of you, too?
---Wonkette
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