From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
2 Weeks 'til Netroots Nation!
With the liberal event of the year only 14 days away, we hope your to-do list (haircut, pull tuxedo tank-top from bottom of laundry pile, memorize sum of all knowledge for Adam B's pub quiz) is getting pared down. This week's update is chock full of netrootiness:
► Must-see panel on Saturday, July 13th: Making Herstory: The Women Who Are Shifting the Balance of Power in Washington. Democracy in Color president Aimee Allison moderates the panel featuring Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. DebHaaland (D-NM), with an introduction by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).
► RSVPs have spiked to 80+ Kossacks for the DKos/C&J Meet-'n-Eat at the Aqimero Latin Grill (a 7-minute walk from the convention center). To add your name to the RSVP list, email Neeta and then circle Wednesday, July 10th at 6pm on your calendar. To confirm your RSVP, check the list in Neeta’s latest post. Some people have said in the past that they're a bit intimidated about going because of all the brainpower in the room. Please don’t let this stop you—my brain will be in attendance, which will cut the party's overall juice output by many watts. Or amps. Or volts. Whatever they are.
► The Daily Kos Caucus is Friday morning at 9 in room 124 at the convention center. Join us for coffee and pastries as we put names with faces, talk about the future of DailyKos, answer questions, and hear from Iara Peng, founder and executive director of DK's new nonprofit affiliate Prism.
► One of the local speakers you'll meet is Helen Gym, who has quickly gained a reputation as the most progressive member of the Philadelphia City Council. Nice profile here in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Somebody, probably a toddler, broke this bell. While I’m in Philadelphia I intend to find the culprit and contact the proper authorities.
► Kossack vicki has posted her legendary Google spreadsheet featuring all the NN19 panels, keynotes, screenings, and special events at a glance. Click here to access it. (The tabs for the individual days are at the bottom.)
► And, hot off the press, here ‘s the Netroots Nation App.
► Sign up for volunteer discounts and the scholarship program here.
► Registration info is here. Hotel rooms are selling out fast, but they’ve reserved rooms at additional venues—the latest updated info is here.
► Follow Netroots Nation via Twitter here and Facebook here.
Off to build my Philly cred by soaking in a tub of melted provolone. Meanwhile Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, June 27, 2019
Note: How come my dog and cat never staple reward notices to telephone poles when I go missing?
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By the Numbers:
15 days!!!
Days 'til Robert Mueller testifies before the House Judiciary & Intelligence Committees: 20
Days ‘til the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls, Maine 15
Percent of Americans who consider immigration "a good thing for this country today" according to a Gallup poll: 76%
Amount Stephen and Tabitha King just donated to the fund helping hundreds of asylum seekers who arrived in Portland, Maine a couple weeks ago, bringing the total to over $500,000: $40,000
Trump's approval among Democrats and independents (combined average) in Florida, according to a new PPP poll: 25%
Current number of measles cases in the U.S. this year, the highest in 25 years: 1,077
The next year during which Italy will host the winter Olympics: 2026
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
When, in the future, you find yourself wondering, "Whatever happened to the Constitution?" you will want to go back and look at June 8, 2004. That was the day the attorney general of the United States—a.k.a. "the nation's top law enforcement officer"—refused to provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with his department's memos concerning torture.
In order to justify torture, these memos declare that the president is bound by neither U.S. law nor international treaties. We have put ourselves on the same moral level as Saddam Hussein, the only difference being quantity. Quite literally, the president may as well wear a crown—forget that "no man is above the law" jazz. We used to talk about "the imperial presidency" under Nixon, but this is the real thing. […]
Is this what we have come to? Is this what we want our government to do for us? Oh and by way, to my fellow political reporters who keep repeating that Bush is having a wonderful week: Why don't you think about what you stand for?
---June, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Please enjoy this brief Aaron Copland interlude…
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CHEERS to brevity. I watched the Democratic primary debate last night. I doubt you want to read all 500 pages of meticulous notes in 5-point font that I took while digesting the points, counterpoints, policies, counter-policies, Trump jabs, optics, tone, vocal quality, nonverbals, flag pins, hairstyles and clothing on the women, neckties and musky auras on the men, stage lighting, and moderator performances. So here's my summary that you can write on your hand and use while cheating on your next political science exam:
It was fine. I mean, y’know, it was…fine.
There's another debate tonight. I plan on applying the same hard-edge scrutiny to the Round 2 candidates as I did to Round 1. When you see all the flopsweat on their faces tonight? That’s me. Kingmaker Billeh.
CHEERS to five texts well-texted. A friend's online prodding is how the improbable campaign of Tiffany Cabán for the Queens District Attorney's office got started and, in the Ocasio-Cortez mold of grassroots campaigning on a progressive platform, it looks like she left her more centrist primary opponents sitting in the middle of the road with the yellow stripes and assorted roadkill:
In her campaign platform, Cabán vowed to decline to prosecute sex work, recreational drug use and crimes of poverty; end the system of cash bail; seek shorter sentences for felonies; and prosecute abuses by ICE agents, landlords and drug companies.
The progressive blue wave steamrolls on…….
The six-candidate local primary drew unusual national attention, as Cabán won high-profile endorsements from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and prosecutors in other states who were elected on similar platforms of criminal justice reform.
She even got an endorsement from The New York Times. But she won anyway.
CHEERS to the vanquisher. Speaking of strong female candidates… People call our current Speaker of the Maine House of representatives whip-smart, charismatic, popular, quick on her feet and, yes, likable. And in 17 months, if enough Mainers decide they're sick and tired of Susan Collins' tired old "moderate" shtick, we may be calling Sara Gideon "Madam Senator":
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Read more about Sara here. She still has to win the primary (a year away), but she's the highest-profile candidate so far, and influential-types are already lining up behind her. Of course I'll be withholding my endorsement. Mainly because I want her to win.
CHEERS to workin' on the wire without a net. On June 27, 1846, New York and Boston were linked by telegraph wires for the first time ever. Unfortunately people kept tripping over them, so the following week they invented the telegraph pole.
JEERS to a waste of precious bodily fluids. This is terrible: an employee at an upscale cocktail bar in Chicago allegedly spit on Eric Trump. I know some of us are having a hearty ha-ha over it, but let's be serious for a moment. I mean, c'mon…you have to admit that's a pretty awful thing to do. Thanks to that inconsiderate employee, an innocent wad of spit is going to spend weeks in quarantine and the rest of its life in psychotherapy three times a week. [Sigh] Thoughts and prayers, little loogie. Thoughts and prayers.
CHEERS to the Greatest Moment in World History. I grew up with the bleeps and bloops of Atari games ringing in my ears, and to this day I see a shadow image of those iconic graphics every time I blink. (Yes, even with my new eyeball lens—Tuesday’s cataract surgery went fine, thank you, and the result is uh-MAZING.) Atari marked its first full day as a company 47 years ago today, and for that my inner geek thanks founder and personal Yoda Nolan Bushnell, who muses on how far we’ve come since those early glory days, and where video games are headed:
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My first addictions on this wacky planet, besides candy cigarettes and Hogan's Heroes, were Missile Command, Battlezone, and Asteroids, each following Bushnell's formula of being "simple to learn but impossible to master." They retain their simple elegance and pulse-quickening qualities four-plus decades later. Go ahead...click here and release your inner nerd. Time spent with an Atari classic will not be deducted from your lifespan.
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Ten years ago in C&J: June 27, 2009
JEERS to the Rule of Threes. When the week started, it was "gravely-ill" 92 year-old Walter Cronkite who appeared to be headed for the Great Beyond. (We hope he's doing better and that he'll be with us for awhile longer.)
Ten years already? Astonishingly, Fox News didn’t blame their deaths on Obama.
But when the week ended, we'd instead lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson...each a unique icon of pop culture. McMahon the jolly and quick-witted sidekick. Fawcett the actress and pin-up queen who later invited people in as observers of her ongoing battle with cancer (and the medical system). Jackson the visitor from another planet who dazzled us with his superhuman talent but ultimately couldn’t function in our atmosphere. All three were instantly recognizable around the globe. And each one gave us a reason to look the rest of the world in the eye and say: "America...fuck yeah!"
P.S. For those of you keeping score, the tabloids have already attributed Jackson's death to aliens who escaped from Area 51, murder by the CIA/Oprah syndicate, a mixture of Pop Rocks and Coke, the ghost of Elvis, and the Bat Boy. But not a heart attack because, hey, let's not get crazy.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the growing season. A quick reminder that tomorrow morning, June 27th at 10am, everybody—you included—needs to meet at the city square (between the post office and the bank) for the annual lottery.
The lottery is fun for the whole family. Well, maybe not for the one who gets the black spot, but other than that….
Please get there promptly (I'm looking at you, sleepyhead Tessie Hutchinson) so we can start picking the ballots out of the hat and determine who has the black spot. Once the action starts, follow the guidelines set by the safety department: lift only those rocks that won’t cause back strain or wrist injury. ("If it's too big for thee, leave it be.")
Let's try to finish up by noon so we can all go home and enjoy a nice midday supper, shall we? Also: tomorrow is the day to put a new "Lottery In June, Corn Be Heavy Soon" bumper sticker on your car, per city ordinance. And don’t forget sunscreen—after all, those UV rays can kill ya!
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
The Obamas hang out with Bill in Portland Maine on glamorous Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool vacation
---CBS News
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