From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Headlines You Won’t Read Today
Mexico agrees to pay for wall
Bill O'Reilly accepts new position as war correspondent
Public demands Social Security benefit cuts & increase in retirement, Medicare eligibility age
Speaker Ryan introduces legislation offering real solution to actual problem
Gun owners claiming to be "100% safe" go full day without negligently shooting selves or others in foot, groin, chest, or head
Jared Kushner utters sound from mouth hole
Budget emphasizes education of children over war machine
World weather forecast for remainder of 2017: calm, pleasant
More Democrats than Republicans booked on Sunday morning shows
Historians agree: In his first 100 days, Trump excels at being 'an utter failure'
Okay, you might stumble upon that last one.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Note: I will happily have someone else pay you at some point in the future for a hamburger you buy me today. And also that Tesla.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the French election: 11
Days`til the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in Louisiana: 9
Percent of Democrats who supported air strikes in Syria under President Obama and President Trump, respectively, according to an ABC News-WaPost poll: 38%, 37%
Percent of Republicans who supported air strikes in Syria under President Obama and President Trump, respectively: 22%, 86%
Sea level rise in Florida since 1992: 4"
Percent chance that working a 6-hour day results in fewer sick days taken than those who work 8-hour days, according to a new study in Sweden: 100%
Years that Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport has been the busiest one in the world: 19
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Mid-week Rapture Index:
181 (including 4 Satanisms and 1 pastor who is suddenly giving some seriously trippy sermons). Soul Protection Factor 420 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Follow the leader...
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CHEERS to today's BIG event. Ooh! Exciting tax reform announcement today from the thinking-bigly-with-their-headbones economic team at the White House. Yup---it'll sure be great to once again see how this administration runs like a fine-tuned machine. Give us a preview, Washington Post…
Top Trump administration officials are giving out differing accounts of a tax plan that the president has promised will be released Wednesday, calling into question whether they have ironed out some of the most difficult components of any proposal.
On Saturday, administration officials offered confusing signals on which route Trump would pursue.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday suggested Wednesday’s announcement would pursue a long-term overhaul of the tax code. … But on Sunday, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, appeared to cast doubt on Mnuchin’s statements, saying the White House hadn’t decided whether to pursue a long-term or short-term tax overhaul.
Anonymous reports from inside the West Wing say that Mnuchin and Mulvaney will settle their difference in the newly-built White House gladiator arena. They'll fight it out with Nerf tridents. (They'd use real ones but they don't want to mess up their $250 manicures.)
CHEERS to #44 in the house. Barack Obama, the former-president-turned-hermit who hasn’t been seen since he left office in January, emerged from his northern Montana hut of solitude and rode, belly-length beard flapping in the wind, his mule "Tequila" to Chicago to talk about youth leadership:
“So, uh, what’s been going on while I’ve been gone?” he joked at the start of the event, held at the University of Chicago. […]
“I’m spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job, and what I’m convinced of is that, although there are all kinds of issues that I care about and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on, the single most important thing I can do is to help, in any way I can, prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world,” Obama said. […]
Atrician Lumumba, a student and president of the university’s Organization of Black Students, said students have a special affinity for Obama. “We’re the Obama generation ― we grew up with him as our president,” Lumumba said. “We’re used to him, and we’ve seen how his activism in Chicago has really guided his [political] career.”
Although he stayed away from politics directly, he did end his lecture with a reminder of what is best in life: "Destroy your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the Bannon." Welcome back, buddy.
CHEERS to the power of brevity. One of the most memorable moments from the 2008 presidential campaign happened nine years ago today during the April 26, 2007 Democratic debate hosted by Brian Williams. Silly question, great answer:
Williams: Senator Biden, words have in the past gotten you in trouble---words that were borrowed and words that some found hateful. An editorial in the Los Angles Times said, "In addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine."
Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, Senator?
Sen. Joe Biden: Yes.
[Long pause] Williams: Thank you, Senator.
You can watch the clip (this link seems to be the only one still working) here. That was the moment I knew Biden was #1 on my list. To be our next #2.
CHEERS to protecting the vote. You can count on Maine Republicans to try and bring this up every session: an unnecessary Voter ID law to make it harder for Democrats to vote. Well, up here our Democrats control the House, so this thing's going nowhere:
Majority Democrats prevailed on a 76-67 vote that split mostly on party lines in rejecting L.D. 121, which required a voter provide proof of identity with a photographic identification, such as a driver’s license or state-issued identification card.
Rep. Karl Ward, R- Holden, the bill’s primary sponsor, expressed frustration with Democrats via Facebook following the vote Tuesday. He wrote that the measure would have “prevented virtually all voter fraud in Maine,” and vowed to defeat Democrats at the polls in 2018. […]
Oamshri Amarasingham, advocacy director of the ACLU of Maine, said voter photo identification laws are designed to obstruct voters. “Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, protected by more constitutional amendments than any other right,” Amarasingham said.
There is no voter fraud in Maine. Never has been, never will be. Studies have confirmed it, and voters have rejected such measures at the ballot box before. But Republicans will never stop trying to plant their greasy thumbs on the scale. Level playing fields give them hives.
CHEERS to Charles Richter. It's the 117th birthday of the late seismologist who invented a scale to measure the strength of earthquakes (I forget what it's called). Go here and pay your respects...if you feel so moved. But please don’t blame him for causing earthquakes like the recent ones in Italy and New Guinea---they're not his faults.
CHEERS to lab coats on parade. The weather wasn't the greatest here Saturday, but that didn't stop thousands of people from taking part in the various March for Science events around Maine in solidarity with the 600+ marches around the world. Most memorable one I saw was the undersea march off Wake Island. Give it a click...
It was a huge success, and even Trump was forced to look at DC’s marchers as he was driven to Walter Reed for his silly Purple Heart photo-op stunt. Up next: this weekend's climate march. There's a 20 percent chance of rain in D.C. and, with a forecast high of 88, a zero percent chance of airborne James Inhofe snowballs.
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Ten years ago in C&J: April 26, 2007
JEERS to banana peels in the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration under Bush has been---surprise!---sleeping on the job:
Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court. [...]
"The people at OSHA have no interest in running a regulatory agency," said Dr. David Michaels, an occupational health expert at George Washington University who has written extensively about workplace safety."If they ever knew how to issue regulations, they’ve forgotten. The concern about protecting workers has gone out the window."
By the way, Human Resources says your bonus will be a little different this month. Instead of cash, you'll be given a lovely assortment of rusty nails. For your convenience you'll find them scattered under your desk.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to going high when they go low. I recently started following one of my favorite actors Peter MacNicol (Sophie's Choice, Ally McBeal, tons of others) on twitter. It's a fun feed, especially the vintage movie posters he shares. But once in awhile he gets serious, as he did last week in this, the most eloquent and, frankly, devastating response I've seen yet to the little photo-op stunt that Sarah Palin, Kid Rock and Ted Nugent pulled at the White House:
As Peter says, “This is NOT about politics, just old-fashioned manners.” Sad that some grownups who know better still need to be taught them.
Have a happy humpday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Bloomberg to world leaders: Ignore Bill in Portland Maine on everything
---The Washington Post
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