From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Today He Makes It Official
"The formal kickoff will set the stage for the campaign to come. I will lay out an
'Agenda for America' which addresses the major crises we face and a vision of a
government which works for all of our people and not just the billionaire class."
Can't say it much better than
Stewart Acuff did here Saturday:
He is as honest as the day is long. He says what he means and means what he says. He stands up for you and me every time he has a chance. He stands up for people who will never vote, because he believes in loving your brother and sister. He is fearless, honorable, and American to the marrow of his bones. […] By the standards of the radical right-wing, Bernie Sanders is a socialist. By my standards he’s a great American who wants to improve the lives of all Americans, and in that way strengthen the core of America.
The
Bernie 2016 kickoff rally starts at 5 eastern time at Waterfront Park in Burlington. (The weather forecast: partly sunny and warm.) If your transporter room is on the fritz, you can watch it live on MSNBC.
(Newly-updated official campaign website)
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Note: We hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. As promised, here are my fresh Jarts wounds: here….here…here here and here. And here. Final score, as usual: 0-0.
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17 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til summer:
26
Days 'til the
Columbus Arts Festival in Ohio:
17
Approximate portion of all food that goes to waste:
1/3
Estimated annual cost of the food wasted each year in the U.S.:
$160 billion
(Source:
The Washington Post)
Average cost of a hospital stay in the U.S. and Germany, respectively:
$12,000 / $5,000
(Source: Harper's Index)
Number of people who watched David Letterman's final show
last Wednesday:
13.76 million
The last time he matched those ratings:
2/94
(Source: Nielsen)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
I named all my sheep names like Bara-a-a-a-ack, Mitt Ram-ney, Michelle Oba-a-a-a-ama, Ram Emanuel, and one that was born with his tongue hanging out the side was Joe Biden. We swore at them all the time because they were so stupid, but they sure taste good!
---Commenter elda at World Net Daily
NO, it is NOT "ok" to swear at sheep. But with the 'progressive' Liberal fixation on societal degeneration, you can also marry a sheep, or even become a sheep. And nobody will ask any questions.
---Commenter lemonjello at World Net Daily
All together now: 1…2…3…
Hey! You're standing on your oxygen hose!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Mainers, one and all…
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CHEERS to the "Nay!" sayers. Fourteen Senate Democrats (et tu, Patty Murray???) joined enough Republicans to strip themselves of their power to debate the Trans-Pacific Partnership---aka "NAFTA on steroids"---trade agreement. It's small comfort in the big picture, but I'm still pleased with Maine's senators---one a Republican and the other an Independent---for refusing to eat Obama's shit sandwich:
See that look? That's Angus
King's "This deal stinks" look.
“I voted against the Trade Promotion Authority legislation to protect Mainers from the disadvantages and unfair competition this legislation could impose on our workforce,” [Susan] Collins wrote in a news release.
[Angus] King voiced similar concerns. “I can’t justify supporting a process that, in effect, would approve a major trade deal that has substantial stakes for Maine when we haven’t even seen it,” King wrote in a news release.
“I just don’t know how to explain to Maine people that they have to compete straight up with countries with little or no labor protections, weak environmental standards and wages below a dollar an hour. This is one more blow to American manufacturing, and the country will come to regret the Senate’s action today, probably sooner rather than later.”
Now that the Senate has gone all invertebrate on us, all eyes will be on the House when it returns from vacation next week and majority whip Steve "David Duke Without the Baggage" Scalise starts goading members of his caucus who hate every fiber of President Obama's being to start loving him. I hope they do lots of stretching beforehand. It's easy to pull a muscle while doing a backflip.
CHEERS to getting Copenhitched. As the world digests the news that Ireland's people---including thousands of Ex-Pats who returned to vote---approved adding same-sex marriage to the country's constitution by a two-to-one margin, today marks a much older marriage milestone: Twenty-six years ago today, Denmark became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage:
Axel Axgil and Eigil Axgil, the
first married couple in Denmark.
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In Denmark, where opinion polls from the time showed only 25% of the public opposed it, the gay-marriage bill passed on May 26, 1989 with a clear majority. Steffen Jensen, spokesman for the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians, remembers the moment as remarkably moving. "The Danish Parliament isn't like the British one---there's never any shouting or clapping; we're very reserved," he says. "But when the law passed, everyone in the audience rose and bowed to the legislators."
Six months later:
the first wedding bells. Followed shortly afterward by the first wedding bills. Because why should straights get all the heartburn?
Climate-change skeptic Jeb
might want to check out how
rising sea levels will affect his
new cottage at Walker's Point.
JEERS to the playground of the bluebloods. Guess who's dipping into huis petty-cash drawer and hiring The Help to build him his own pad at the family compound on Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine?
Jeb Bush:
The two-story, 3,000-square-foot house, which is expected to be finished this summer, is the ninth residential building on the site, and neighbors are taking it in stride. The Boston Globe reported Sunday that the house – referred to as a cottage in planning documents – is estimated to cost $600,000 and sits on a 1.3-acre site assessed by the town at $1.4 million.
Locals, many of whom only reluctantly talk about their presidential neighbors to protect their privacy, say they are just glad the Bushes appear to be strengthening their roots in this seaside town by making room for future generations of the family.
Probably a good thing. It'll give him someplace to retreat to and have a good cry when he becomes the one Bush who finds out that three Bushes is one Bush too many.
CHEERS to sweet libation. 85 years ago, in 1930, the Supreme Court ruled that buying liquor does not violate the Constitution. Afterward they reached for the flasks strapped to their shins and toasted their fine work.
CHEERS to simple solutions to greasy problems. It's an age-old conundrum dating back to the creation of the earth six thousand years ago: how to feast on fast food and still be able to peck away on your laptop, tablet or smartphone keypad without getting it all greasy. Leave it to the Germans to figure it out:
If you're eating at KFC, the first
thing you should peck out is
your Last Will and Testament.
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KFC is furnishing some German diners with Bluetooth-enabled paper keyboards so they can type into their phones and tablets with greasy fingers, obviating the need to hose down their devices with liquid detergent after lunch. … The rechargeable “Tray Typer” replaces the usual piece of paper that comes atop food trays at the fast-food chain. … Maybe the best thing about Tray Typer is that it’s reusable---after being wiped down, of course. Serviceplan claims that during the campaign in Germany, every single Tray Typer was taken home by consumers.
The company had similar success when they introduced it on Capitol Hill. Every single Tray Typer was taken home by politicians with greasy palms.
CHEERS to the birthday legislators! Give a warm C&J rubber-ducky "Quack!" today for Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who turned hrffrhrrr years old yesterday…
"My dad was a sports writer when I was younger and then he became just a general columnist. But I grew up with him literally getting into brawls with football coaches."
"Families fighting childhood cancer should not have to worry about where they're going to get the next dose of the drug they need to save their child's life."
"I guess my claim to fame is I've now gaveled Ted Kennedy to order twice."
…and Congresswoman Jan Shackowsky (D-IL), who turns
hrffhrrf years old today…
"Since the birth of our Nation, no other right has been more important than having the ability to vote. Unfortunately, as history has shown, the denial of this right to minorities is a scar on our system of democracy."
"Handcuffing the ability of states and localities to develop clean fuels in the cheapest possible way, using local resources, is not sound or sensible policy."
"I was a very strong opponent of the [Iraq] war, in fact, one of those who went door to door to my colleagues and thus achieved 60 percent of the Democrats voting no against this war."
…and many blessings on your camels.
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Ten years ago in C&J: May 26, 2005
CHEERS to the Washington Post. In today's must-read, the paper uses its lead editorial to explain to Laura Bush why endorsing a rigged, dissent-stifling election in Egypt is mighty dumb:
"Only a forceful intervention from the White House could induce Egypt's dictator to hold an election that is close to free and fair. Instead he---and the Egyptian people---have heard from Laura Bush that his mockery of democracy is worthy of applause."
Paging Condi Rice: cleanup on Aisle 6!
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the Great Orange Satan---the baker's dozen year. It started when a butterfly named Markos emerged from his law-school cocoon and flapped his wings thirteen years ago on May 26, 2002:
I am progressive. I am liberal. I make no apologies. I believe government has an obligation to create an even playing field for all of this country's citizens and immigrants alike.
Something no other political blog has
besides Daily Kos: an air force.
"The" Daily Kos percolated for several months before I discovered it (via the
Dean for America blog) and got addicted to the
cattle calls. After that, all hell broke loose and it's been a sprint for world domination ever since (so far only Lichtenstein has surrendered on the deck of our battleship, but it's a start). Today we have an amazing Elections team, a radio crew, an activism and community-building arm, amazing front-page and diary contributors, award-winning cartoonists who regularly draw a crowd, and groups within the community that focus on everything from environmental issues and labor to gardening and jazz.
Despite the meta wars, sigh-inducing GBCWs, and the sheer crazy volume of information that gets posted every day, it's still a kickass source of netroots-level analysis, opinion, issue-vetting, fundraising, snarking, storytelling and flying furniture, and only a fool would try to herd our breed of cats. So from all of me to all of you---especially you, Kos, our mighty Keyboard Kingpin---Happy 13th blogiversary from user ID #2574. May your hearts remain progressive...and your hands always be filled with pies.
And have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
A kiddie pool that scientists have long referred to as "Nasty 1" is starting to live up to its weird nickname, scientists have said, after observations from the Hubble Space Telescope revealed that the massive, mysterious pool is surrounded by a huge, pancake-shaped disk of Bill in Portland Maine gas.
---WashingtonPost.com
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