From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Whippersnapper vs. Fuddy-duddy
Leave it to President Obama to spell it out plain and simple:
"When [Michelle or I] hear that young people aren't voting or participating, we say to them, 'You would not let your grandfather or grandmother decide what clothes you wear or what music you listen to, so why would you let them decide the world you're going to live in?"
It's a fair point. If you look at the world the old'uns, with all their wisdom and experience, have left the young'uns—especially this generation—it has several markings of a shit sandwich. The planet's environmentally in peril, the super-rich are hoovering up all the money as fast as they can, college is increasingly unaffordable, minorities still get dumped on, active-shooter drills are now a way of life in school, and there are crazy white people in red baseball hats running around trying to dismantle our democracy and ignite a second civil war. All good reasons to hit the voting booths as soon as you’re eligible. And to their credit, more of them are doing that:
“A youth wave is sweeping this nation,” Debra Hauser, the president for nonprofit Advocates for Youth, said in a statement. “Young people are outraged by politicians whose rhetoric and actions embolden extremist bigots. They don’t accept this world of racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, nor the violence and harm that goes along with it. In record numbers, they voted [in 2018] for change.
But while millennials are quickly becoming the largest eligible voting generation, according to the Pew Research Center, they do not yet vote consistently enough to be the most influential voting age bracket.
Maybe not, but 2018 was a good start.
I know it's a long time 'til the 2020 election, but it's worth reminding the Democratic party and candidates to keep youth issues top of mind, as much as it's worth reminding those darn kids to keep at least one eye and one ear open on the party and candidates, who are a fountain of good ideas. And if there are any more Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes out there, feel free to run at the local, state or federal level. You'll get plenty of support.
Speaking of grandparents, one quick word of bonus advice: if your grandpa whips up a blender full of Tang with milk, take a hard pass. It tastes as bad as it sounds.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Note: I spent all day yesterday weighing the evidence, interviewing advocates and opponents on all sides, making last-minute fact-finding trips to Academia, and spending time talking with regular Americans at cafes, bus stops and bars. I've made my decision: vanilla.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Brexit: 3!!!
Days 'til the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: 16
Number of Democratic 2020 candidates who showed up to speak at Al Sharpton's National Action Network event over the weekend: 12
Amount Hispanic women and women overall earn in the U.S. for every dollar men earn: 63 cents, 81 cents
Percent chance that "the share of Latinas starting college right after high school has now surpassed that of the general population," according to the Census Bureau: 100%
Percent of adult American Facebook users who are unaware the company categorizes them according to their interests, according to Harper's Index: 74%
Percent chance that the rhino poacher in South Africa's Kruger National Park who got stomped by an elephant and then eaten by lions has garnered a worldwide outpouring of sympathy: 0%
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NEW Tuesday feature! "Packin' for Philadelphia!"
Brought to you by the 2019 Netroots Nation Convention in Philadelphia, July 11-13. My goodness, you Philadelphians are an accomplished bunch. Here's just a partial list of famous folks who come from PA's largest hamlet:
Larry Fine (The Three Stooges), Kevin Bacon, Naom Chomsky
Grace Kelley, Will Smith, Isaac Asimov
Patty LaBelle, David Lynch, Margaret Mead
Irvin Kirshner (Director:The Empire Strikes Back), Tina Fey, Billie Holiday
Joan Jett, Teller (of Penn & Teller), Kobe Bryant
Betsy Ross, All the Barrymores, Jim Croce
Taylor Swift, Seth Green, James A. Michener
Chris Matthews, Ed Bradley, Blythe Danner
But, oddly, not Ben Franklin. He lived there and is buried there, but by birth he's Massachusettsian. Or as my spellchecker wants me to change it to: "Massachusetts Ian."
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Tuesday stress break…
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CHEERS to the wisdom of the masses. Bad news for the media talking heads who get their jollys (and their paychecks) off of claiming that Americans consider the policies of both parties equally appealing. "Balderdash," say Americans, who would like you to know that DEMOCRATS are the party whose policies they agree with most:
In reality, the polling shows the majority of the public usually backs policy positions preferred by the Democratic Party.
A new Gallup poll released Thursday showed that two-thirds of Americans said protecting the environment should be a higher priority than economic growth and only three-in-10 who said economic growth should be given priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent. This is the highest prioritizing of the environment since spring 2000. […]
Another poll out this week by Pew Research Center found that Americans' biggest frustration regarding the country's tax system isn't the amount they pay, but that corporations and the wealthy don't pay their fair share.
Those are two examples but there are many other issues that fit under this umbrella, including immigration, gun control and abortion.
Also: LGBT rights, airline regulations, health care, international relations, food inspection, endangered species protection, national parks, Social security expansion, food stamps, the minimum wage, maternity leave, public schools, nuclear arms reduction, and college tuition. But Star Wars versus Star Trek? Americans are willing to go to war over that. And I say may the best Jedi win.
JEERS to a clash of evildoers. Who would've guessed that locking children in freezing cages, and occasionally subjecting them to sexual abuse wouldn't be considered villainous enough to keep your job in the Trump administration? But that was the case with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was forced to turn in her bjadge, jackbjoots, and Mar-A-Lago guest pjass on Sundjay. While Trump searches the jungles of South America for any remaining Nazis-in-exile to replace her, Nielsen will now seek out new employment opportunities. She's currently entertaining offers from the Razor Wire of the Month Club, ACME Dungeon Supplies, and the makers of the new interactive plush toy, Help My Parents Find Me Elmo.
CHEERS to the robed resistors. The integrity of the judicial branch is, for the most part, holding firm in the wake of Trump’s war on non-Trump judges, and it gets a gold star for putting the brakes on a slew of right-wing agenda items. Here’s a recent trio that should make your endorphins do a little tap-dance:
The Environment [A] federal judge in Alaska sided with environmental groups in a lawsuit over offshore drilling late Friday. The Arctic offshore areas in question—parts of the Outer Continental Shelf in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas—had been protected from fossil fuel drilling by an executive order issued by President Barack Obama. Trump had overturned that order in 2017, and the administration was hurtling toward a lease sale there that it hoped to hold later this year. The judge determined that Trump didn't have the authority to revoke Obama's decisions … That would require action by Congress, the judge wrote.
The Census [A] third federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, ruling Friday that it poses a "substantial risk" of undercounting Hispanics and non-citizens. U.S. District Judge George Hazel in Maryland also concluded that a citizenship question is "arbitrary and capricious" and violates the Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act.
The Affordable Care Act A federal judge on Thursday stuck down a Trump administration rule aimed at enabling millions of Americans to buy skimpy health insurance plans that do not comply with key Affordable Care Act requirements—part of administration efforts to chip away at the healthcare law. Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found the rule “is clearly an end-run around the ACA,” commonly called Obamacare, the signature domestic achievement of former Democratic President Barack Obama.
Oh, and also Judge Judy ruled that Roberto has to pay Gwen $1,800 for back rent and a broken TV stand. God bless the judiciary!
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Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man. Former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig looks at the stonewalling of the Mueller Report by Trump’s Attorney General and asks: What is Barr trying to hide?
Everything.
Now back to Cheers and Jeers.
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
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CHEERS to a civil end to a most uncivil war. Big anniversary today—in fact, it oughtta be a federal holiday. On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee called it quits and surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the southern traitors’ War for the Preservation of Owning Humans for Forced Labor.
A half dozen years ago a demographic historian concluded that the death toll of the war was much higher than originally thought---750,000 versus the original 620,000. Sadly, another number has also been extended far beyond its original estimate: the number of years it's taking too many white people in the South to admit they lost and put away that damn confederate battle flag. As Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC) reminded them a few years back, even slave owner and avowed racist treason-monger Lee had enough self-awareness to concern himself with post-war optics:
"When Robert E. Lee surrendered he asked all of his followers to furl this flag. Stow it away, he said. Put it in your attics," Clyburn continued. "He refused to be buried in his Confederate uniform. His family refused to allow anyone dressed in the confederate uniform to attend his funeral. "Why? Because Robert E. Lee said he considered this emblem to be a symbol of treason.”
He also didn’t want any statues of him put up…a request that fell on deaf ears as groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy erected hundreds of them (of Lee and other CSA icons, including a fresh batch in the 1960s to remind the civil rights movement to remember “their place”) as a way of living in denial of their treason. I’ll give the hangers-on credit for one thing: they sure picked the right theme song. "Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land." Mission accomplished.
CHEERS to cool science. Says here that last Friday a Japanese spacecraft dropped a bomb on an asteroid. Its exact words: "Sorry, Frank, it's just not working out."
CHEERS to following the bouncing balls. Now that the final shots have been made into the—to use Ted Cruz's term—basketball ring, we can now announce the victors in 2019's NCAA greedy money grab posing as a wholesome college basketball tournament. The men's championship belongs to Virginia (victorious in overtime to win their first title), and the women of Baylor showed Notre Dame the business end of a slam dunk.
And now that this year's March Madness is all over (in April, yes, thank you, we're aware of that), it's time to take the final step: you must now print out your brackets and eat them. [Munch Munch Munch…gulp] We'll speak no more of it.
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Ten years ago in C&J: April 9, 2009
JEERS to big noise from a little man. North Korea launched another rocket which, if you believe their propaganda ministry, was "actual size of glorious Kim Jong Il penis no lie we measure." Also like Jong Il, shortly after liftoff it suffered a case of premature deceleration and crashed into the ocean (if ya know what I mean). In response, everyone is sticking to their time-worn scripts. The United Nations: "Oooh, we can't do anything, our hands are tied!" The White House: "Bad, North Korea! Bad! One more unauthorized test and we're canceling your Netflix account." The American neocons: "The fact that President Obama hasn't launched a dozen nukes and wiped the country off the map---and, of course, Iran, too---means he's a failed president." The North Korean people: "Hey, don't look at us, we just starve here."
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And just one more…
CHEERS and JEERS to the topple seen 'round the world. Remember all the hullabaloo when that Baghdad statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down shortly after we shocked 'n awed Iraq? Believe it or not, that was 16 years ago today. I remember wincing when a U.S. soldier, unfamiliar with the concept of "How Things Look from the Liberated Folks' Perspective," tried to tie an American flag around Saddam's head, and drumming my fingers on my desk as the Iraqis took for freakin' ever to try and yank the statue down by hand. (It didn’t help that live video sucked on the internet in 2003, so the buffering time was insane.) They finally decided to let our troops attach a rope from Saddam's finger to a tank, which pulled it down in mere seconds as the crowd made crude fart noises (proving that, no matter what country you're from, that gag never gets old). Then they beat it with shoes as it was dragged around the square like a cat toy.
But, as with so many aspects of that war (like the reason for starting it), things weren't exactly as they seemed. The press made it look like the entire city was there celebrating. In reality, it looked more like the size of House Freedom Caucus representation at a MENSA meeting:
If you're hyperventilating from the shock of being misled by the media, breathe into a paper sack for a few minutes. It'll pass.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
“I would stack up my kiddie pool against Bill in Portland Maine's. I know it's not as traditional."
---Mayor Pete Buttigieg
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