(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Cheers and Jeers: Thursday [1]
['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags']
Date: 2022-08-25
"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small."
—Neil Armstrong "Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?"
—Julia Child "The heart of the [1965 voting rights] act is plain. Wherever, by clear and objective standards, States and counties are using regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote, then they will be struck down. If it is clear that State officials still intend to discriminate, then Federal examiners will be sent into register all eligible voters. When the prospect of discrimination is gone, the examiners will be immediately withdrawn. And, under this act, if any county anywhere in this Nation does not want Federal intervention, it need only open its polling places to all of its people.
—President Lyndon Johnson "This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell."
—Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) “Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.”
—Jerry Garcia ”I was born a poor Black child...”
—Steve Martin "Hey, guess what? Screw you. Try to keep up. Keep up, okay? These young punks. I will go after them—I will drop them like a bag of dirt."
—Al Roker, 68, to critics on social media that he's too old to cover hurricanes "Stigma is the greatest barrier to seeking care for individuals who have mental illness, the greatest barrier for a person with a mental illness. And it’s the greatest barrier for those of us in the field who are trying to do something about it."
—Rosalynn Carter "A few weeks ago I was able to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals game. I don't know if you saw it, but I threw it a little high and a little outside. This is how FOX News covered it: President panders to extreme left-wing of batter box."
—President Barack Obama
To the above and those in our Daily Kos community who completed another trip around the sun this month, in person or in spirit: happy birthday and many blessings on your camels.
And now, our feature presentation…
-
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, August 25, 2022
Note: A quick heads-up that there will be no C&J on Monday. In its place will be an image of Ron DeSantis doing something never before attempted by a human being with a pineapple. Parental discretion is advised. Back Tuesday to help pick various jaws up off the floor.
-
By the Numbers:
8 days!!!
Days 'til the start of Yom Kippur: 40
Days 'til the Nauvoo Grape Festival in Illinois: 8
Most common gas price now: $3.49
Current life expectancy in the U.S.: 77 years
Number of states in which U.S. life expectancy rose between 2019 and 2020: 0
Rank of Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Maine among states with the lowest drop in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020: #1, #2, #3
Number of years Dr. Anthony Fauci, 81, will have spent at NIH when he retires in December: 54
-
Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Afghanistan is to nation-building what Afghanistan is to war—pretty much the last place on earth you'd choose, if you had any choice at all. I point this out not to oppose the idea, about which I think we have no choice, but to underline that the task is hard, long and incredibly complicated. […] While some of us search for the answer to the question, "Why do they hate us?" the voices on radio talk shows are answering, "Who cares? Nuke 'em." Those inclined to think that's not a bad plan might keep in mind the already-classic lead by Barry Bearak of The New York Times: "If there are Americans clamoring to bomb Afghanistan back to the Stone Age, they ought to know that this nation does not have far to go. This is a post-apocalyptic place of felled cities, parched land and downtrodden people." —October 2001
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Baby steps…
-
CHEERS to those darn kids. While the massive chop-socky to the Republican jaw in New York's 19th district consumed most of the oxygen in the wake of Tuesday's primaries, there was a race down Florida-way that made history, and for good reason:
Maxwell Frost won the Democratic primary for Florida’s 10th Congressional District on Tuesday night, virtually ensuring the 25-year-old progressive activist will become the first Gen Z member of Congress. […] Maxwell Alejandro Frost on the campaign trail Frost, who previously worked as a top organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union and March for Our Lives, focused his campaign on ending gun violence, battling climate change and supporting “Medicare for All.” Frost is likely to be the youngest member of Congress in 2023. The youngest member of the current congress is Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), 27, who lost his primary earlier this year after a series of scandals.
First Gen Z'er in the House. Youngest member of Congress. Probably the future 7th member of "The Squad." Not a bad start. But I'll reserve judgment until he completes his first term as president. (You never really know someone until you've seen 'em host a White House Easter Egg Roll.)
JEERS to being #1. For the first time since (presumably) the 1860s, voters facing a looming election aren’t worrying their pretty little heads over trivial things like tariffs and tort reform. Nope. We The People, having gotten a snootful of nonstop Republican insurrection and election rigging, are sounding the existential alarm:
A major new poll finds that Americans consider “threats to democracy” to be the most important issue ahead of November’s midterm elections. Voters are paying attention. In a survey published Sunday by NBC News, voters were asked: “What do you think is the most important issue facing the country?” Their answer? Threats to Democracy. In all, 21 percent of the electorate believes that to be the single most important issue ahead of this fall’s vote. Cost of living came next at 16percent.
And to show just how much we consider "threats to democracy" the defining issue of 2022, roughly half of us will stay home on election day. To paraphrase a well-worn saying: these colors don’t run…to the voting booth.
CHEERS to throwing the bums out. Nine weeks after D-Day, on Aug. 25, 1944, Paris was liberated by the Allies during World War II. However, in his famous liberation speech Charles de Gaulle barely mentioned America or its other allies. Gee, thanks a lot. (But please don’t remind the Republicans in Congress or they'll try to change the cafeteria menu back to freedom fries.)
-
BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
x Magical video of fireflies lighting up a rural Pennsylvania field at dusk captured by video artist Diana Lehr.pic.twitter.com/lN6ppEytKC — Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) August 22, 2022
-
END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
-
CHEERS to the re-birth of a nation. Two milestones in Ukraine yesterday: the country's 31st independence day, and six months since Russia decided that genocide against their western neighbor would be greeted with sweets and flowers. Not only is Ukraine hollowing out Putin's pathetic military with smarts and dexterity, but former comedian, now-president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has surprised the entire world with his brains and guts, both of which were on display yesterday:
“On Feb. 24, we were told: You have no chance. On Aug. 24, we say: Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!” Zelenskyy said in a recorded video, which aired early on the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from Soviet rule. When Russia is finally vanquished, this guy’s duds need to go into the Ukrainian Smithsonian. The country’s perseverance throughout the six months of conflict has shaped it like nothing before, the 44-year-old leader told Ukrainians as he stood in Kyiv’s historic Maidan Square, wearing his signature military slacks. “We finally became truly one,” he said. “A new nation that emerged on Feb. 24 at 4 a.m. Not born, but reborn.”
To mark the occasion, the United States authorized another $3 billion in military aid, and the first of the seized Russian oligarchs' yachts is up for auction. On behalf of C&J I placed a bid of a non-fungible token that looks like a check for eleventy-billion dollars. The U.S.S. Candy Corn will look lovely in the kiddie pool.
CHEERS to beautifully warped minds. Happy birthday to Director Tim Burton, who turns a sprightly 64 today. Ed Wood and Beetlejuice remain two of our all-time favorites, but most of his flicks are feats of imagination that boggle the Billy mind, even if the whole doesn’t quite hit the mark (see Willy Wonka and Dumbo). But if I were stranded on the proverbial desert island and could only have one Burton DVD, it'd be no contest—the bonkers Mars Attacks!
-
34 years after they made the original, apparently the gang's getting back together for a sequel to Beetlejuice. But only if we all say it out loud three times.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: August 25, 2012
CHEERS to Charlotte's Angels. Yesterday we learned that another dozen-plus women have been announced as speakers at the Democratic National Convention, which starts in a dozen days. In addition to already-announced Elizabeth Warren and California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, they are:
Lily Ledbetter, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Sandra Fluke, Carolina Kennedy, Tammy Duckworth and Eva Longoria, Denise Juneau, state superintendent of public instruction (Montana), NARAL pro-Choice head Nancy Keenan, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the women of the U.S. Senate.
But don’t worry, men. You'll have plenty to do. Here's a broom. Ha Ha Ha! Just kidding. You'll be clapping a lot, too.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to the "Lion of the Senate." As time goes on, fewer and fewer of us 'Muricans will remember that Ted Kennedy owned that title for much of his 47-year career there. So I'll keep bringing it up, especially on his birthday and also on today's date—the 13-year anniversary of his passing from brain cancer at 77. With a little assist from President Obama, who said at Ted's funeral:
"The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the United States Senate—a man who graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself."
To mark the occasion, a couple snips of vintage Ted:
On the Iraq war: "There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud." On health care reform: "This is the cause of my life—new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American—North, South, East, West, young, old—will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege."
And one of my favorite pics, from 2009 when Ted was one of Barack Obama’s biggest supporters. The grizzled veteran passing on wisdom to the newbie...
Obamacare is now in full effect for the long haul (and is getting expanded under #44’s former VP, now known as #46), and I imagine that card-carrying 5-digit UID Kossack Ted would be pleased over the numbers, but also impatient to improve it and furious at Republicans for trying to gut it over and over so they can give their billionaire buddies more tax cuts. For the first 45 years of my life Ted Kennedy was always in Washington, "voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature" (Obama's words again). He was both a battering ram and a master of jiu jitsu. (Watch him tear into Donald Rumsfeld here.) And also a guy you'd never turn down having a beer with. Even though I'm not from Massachusetts, he still felt like "my" senator. His "vim and vigah" are sorely missed. Cheers, Ted. And say hi to your brothers—they were pretty good, too.
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial "Bill in Portland Maine continues to try to fool you that he is helping you out. But he's not. Because a lot of money, it’s going to Cheers and Jeers kiddie pools. Don’t we have enough kiddie pools around here?" —Herschel Walker
-
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/25/2118346/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Thursday
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
