Evening, all.

Late posting today's encore of C&J because we've been watching---entranced, really---by the DVD for the 1932 movie, 'Freaks.'  If you haven't seen this amazingly strange film, you haven't lived.  The DVD has a great documentary on the making of the movie.  You can't peel your eyes away.

Anyhoo...if you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to C&J...today with juicy farts and a headache-inducing poll.

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/10/10130/2278

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Evening, all.

Running out the door, so here's your evening link to C&J in case you missed it this morning.  Apparently, we caused a bit of a stir by our absence Friday.  We promise to give heads-up next time.  And thanks to Maxomai for picking up the slack.

But enough misty-eyed sentimentality.  Your neural feast awaits...

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/9/112032/5998

Evening, all.

Funny, part I.  Thugs in Davenport thought police would be so distracted by the (nearly) joint Bush/Kerry appearances...plus the county fair going on...that they thought they could breeze in and rob three banks.  I think two sets of robbers actually got away with it.

Funny, part II.  The Bush campaign printed the wrong address on the tickets for today's rally in Iowa.  Instead, they bore the address for the Kerry rally.  Ha!

If you missed C&J this morning, here's your evening link.  It's the last column written by a guy in his 30s.  Tomorrow:  birthday cake for everyone.

Click here for brain food and poll:  http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/4/102120/6560

Evening, all.

In case you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to one of the few diary entries today that wasn't snarky, panicky, vague or self-indulgent.  At Cheers and Jeers we love America.  We love Kerry's position in the polls.  We love Tom Ridge's hairline.  We love George Bush's leather jacket.  We love Howard Dean's jowls.  We love Ralph Nader's facial twitches and lazy eye.  We love summer.  We love Maine.  We love Barack Obama.  We love everyone who gives Cheers and Jeers 4's day after day after day, making it the highest-rated daily diary in the history of Daily Kos.

It's just a big love fest.  And it's all here:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/3/94943/26308

Take the oath.  Take the poll.  Take two happy pills and call me in the morning.  Take the A Train.  Take my wife, please.  Take me to your leader.  Take me back to old Virginia.  Take it slow.  Take it one day at a time.  Take five.  Take ten.  Take a penny, leave a penny.  Take, take, take, that's all you ever do...

[Microsoft server error://:snarky user://:access denied. See manual for details. What an ass---developing://:/]

Evening, all.  You gotta love the left hand/right hand shenannigans at ABC.  In this morning's The Note, they caution us to "Please say `boost' or `bump,' and not `bounce'" when the new ABC News/Washington Post poll is announced.  So what's the ABC News headline?  "Slight Bounce."  Egads.  

If you missed it this morning, here's your evening encore of Cheers and Jeers...where today's poll tells us something very important about Kos readers: they don't give a flying Cheney about Lucky Charms.  Take it anyway.

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/2/1052/38629

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Evening, all.

Since the media apparently has no interest in broadcasting this, it's up to us bloggers to pass the word:

Sandy Berger = Innocent of all charges of wrongdoing.  So there.

If you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to the post-convention edition of Cheers and Jeers.  Take the poll...and be sure to check out today's convention lineup.  Fox News will cover it gavel-to-gavel.

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/30/95234/4628

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Evening, all.

So how do you think the convention's going?  I'll weigh in here, but don't let it influence your opinion in today's C&J poll.

Personally, I think the calibre of speakers---and speeches---have been top-notch.  And I have to believe they'll only get better.  But...I'm still not sure what the unifying theme, or message, of this campaign is.  I suppose that'll be John Kerry's job tomorrow night (I hope it mirrors Barack Obama's brilliant positioning of the party).

As for the blogging of the convention...forgive me, but so far I'm underwhelmed.  Perhaps the bloggers' greatest contribution will occur after it's all over, providing in-depth perspective that the traditional media will quickly abandon. (Speaking of traditional media, big kudos to Air America, for their revolving door of great guests.  Very solid work all around.)

Okay, if you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to another damn fine edition of Cheers and Jeers...

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/28/10348/1892

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Wow.  My partner just got off the phone with his mother, a 66 year-old woman who listens to Rush Limbaughy every day and---sadly---believes every word he says.

So last night Bill Clinton spoke about how unfair it was that he was getting a huge tax cut while those at the bottom of the economic ladder were basically getting screwed.  Rush---as usual---turned it around, saying that Bill and Hillary bragged about how rich they were.

So now my partner's mom thinks that all Bill & Hill did last night was boast about their personal wealth.  And that, my friend, is how the Republican smear machine works "in the heartland."

And so it goes.  If you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to Cheers and Jeers.

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/27/95221/2986

Tonight: Howard and Barack!

And now a summary of today's Diary action:

Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention

Cheers and Jeers

Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention

Cheers and Jeers evening encore

Your link here in case you missed it this morning: http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/26/101739/555

Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention
Convention

Evening, all.

From The Al Franken Show's Pirate Edition today (paraphrasing):

Man meets a pirate.  Man asks the pirate how he got his wooden leg.  "Arr...I was boardin' a British man-o-war and a cannonball took me leg clean off."

"Wow," says the man.  "Well, how did you lose your hand?"  Pirate replies: "Arr...it was severed by the cutlass of a scalawag with mutiny on his mind."

Finally the man asks, "Well, I notice you have a patch over your eye.  What happened?"  Pirate replies, "Arr...a pigeon shit in me eye."

Puzzled, the man inquired, "Really?  Bird poop?"

Responded the pirate: "Aye...It happened on the day I got me new hook."

Have a good weekend.  If you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to Cheers and Jeers, complete with a hearty grog recipe and brand new poll:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/23/10222/3062

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Evening, all.

Man, it sucks when your favorite musician dies.  Today we lost Jerry Goldsmith, a film composer whose name you've seen on the theatre and TV screen probably hundreds of times.  I've been a huge fan of his movie scores for 25 years: Patton, Poltergeist, Star Trek I, V, VII, VIII etc., Gremlins, Total Recall, Hoosiers, The Omen, Papillon, The Sand Pebbles, The Mummy...he was a musical genius.

Film music, by its very nature, is written to strike emotional chords.  And as I listen to his brilliant themes today, I'm reduced to emotional rubble.  Thanks a lot, Jerry.

Today's C&J column is dedicated to a great composer, a gentle soul, and an irreplacable Hollywood titan.  Sometimes, like today, politics must take a back seat.

Now here's your link to C&J in case you missed it this morning:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/22/95230/7632

Evening, all.  Before we post our evening encore of C&J, a special sneak peak at tomorrow's column:

So New York Times genius columnist Paul Krugman is going to be a Tuesday regular on The Al Franken Show.  Now, all of Al's regular guests have their own theme song.  We suggest this for Mr. K...to the tune of `Goldfinger':

Paul Krugman! (Wah wahhhh wah)
He's the man...the man with the Midas tush...
He craps on Bush.

Like a tall drug fan (Wah Wahhhh wah)
You'll get high...from reading his words of truth.
Our fiscal sleuth.

Oh!  The words he will pour in your ear.
Bush and Cheney have so much to fear.
For the GOP knows when he's dissed them,
It's the dis of death from

Mister Paul Krugman (Wah Wahhhh wah)
Rabid Right beware of the lies you've told
He'll stop you cold.

He'll stop you cold!
Like bleach on mold,
Your lies unfold!
He'll knock you cold!
Knock you cooooold!

And now, your link.  Take the Robin Williams poll...

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/21/91658/5069

See link below for today's C&J. We f***ed up royally and we gotta run. Holy crap...this is a posting frickin' disaster...

Evening, all.

So it was IRAN all along!  I knew it!

Yes, our friends in Tehran are the ones who harbored Al Qaeda operatives, including several who eventually steered jetliners into the twin towers.  In fact, it appears the Ayatolloonies are still harboring terrorists, including one of bin Laden's sons.  Iran...not Iraq.

So what do we do?  I suggest we dig a tunnel from our 51st state (Iraq) to the center of Tehran.  Then, under the cover of darkness, we pop open the manhole covers and overrun the bastards.  Then we appoint a viceroy and establish democracy after we clean up all the flowers and candy.

Helen!  Get Wolfowitz on the phone NOW!

As we work out the details, here's your evening link to the swimsuit edition of Cheers and Jeers:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/19/1009/34006

A few musings before we post your evening link to today's C&J:

1. Ever gotten a zit on your kneecap?  What the #@!%# is up with that?!
2. Don't you hate it when a Friday goes by without a fresh terror alert from Tom Ridge?  I don't know what to wear out tonight.  I don't know if I should start drinking early (I did, just in case).  I don't know to what extent I should be ratting on my neighbors (regular cops or SWAT team?).  It just makes everything more complicated.
3. Don't you hate it when American-backed prime ministers walk into a police station and shoot a bunch of non-convicted suspects in the head at point-blank range?  I mean...it's proper etiquette to call ahead.  Isn't it?

Please drop some coinage into the C&J tip jar on behalf of Chris Bowers over at MyDD blog.  His exuberant coverage of Bush vs Kerry is top-shelf hooch.

Enjoy your weekend.  Start here:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/16/95427/1338

Evening, all.  

Emmy nominations out today.  I'll discuss at some length tomorrow morning, but here's my initial take:

Daily Show gets 3 nominations.  Good.  Jon Stewart gets stiffed in his role as host.  Bad.

Budweiser's brilliant "Born a Donkey" ad gets nod for Best Commercial.  Good.  John Mahoney gets snubbed again for his fine work in 'Frasier.'  Bad.

William Shatner gets nominated for his guest role on 'The Practice.'  Goodchristalmighty that is goodgoodgood.  But second-rate dreck 'The Reagans' gets 7 nominations.  Bad, Mommy.

Take the poll re: least-effective Democratic Preznit.  If you missed it this morning, here's your evening link to---God, this column is so...damn...good---Cheers and Jeers:

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/15/103758/259

Evening, all.  To summarize...

Amendment's dead.  

Ditka's out.  

Pennsylvania polls look like---to quote Chris Bowers over at MyDD---"nail in the coffin type numbers" for Bush.

'Outfoxed' is burning up Amazon.com.

'Fahrenheit 9/11' has passed $90 million worldwide.

The Edwards/Kerry photo spreads in Time and Newsweek are dreamy.

And the evening encore of Cheers and Jeers (please read the poll question carefully) is just a click away:  http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/14/10437/7836

Y'all have a pleasant evening now, hear?  Y'all have a pleasant evening.

Pleasant indeed.

Evening, all.

Stomp.

Stomp.

StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp StompStompStompStompStomp StompStompStomp

The hate amendment is dead.  Happy gays are here again.  If you missed it this morning, here's your evening jimminy juice...

http://bill-in-portland-maine.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/13/11759/4454