From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Happy Birthday, Daily Kos...
It started---as most revolutions do---quietly, 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. I am not a socialist. I do not seek enforced equality. However, there has to be equality of opportunity, and the private sector, left to its own devices, will never achieve this goal.
Markos's second entry was funny (and the link still works):
Bush and Putin on nickname terms
Pootie-Poot? Is our 'president' in second grade? I dream of once again having a grownup running the country. Sigh...
But this entry from later that evening was unfortunately a bit off the mark. Nobody's perfect...
Iraq invasion losing steam
The Bush Administration is backpedaling from plans to attack Iraq. No surprise. Bush was eager to keep the nation on a war footing, probably surmizing his high poll numbers depended on it. However, the recent 9-11 disclosures have brought the Bush administration's competence into question. I believe that a few months of investigation leaks will further erode Bush's war glow.
The blog percolated for several months before I discovered it and signed up in mid-2003. After that, all hell broke loose and it's been a sprint for world domination ever since. Today politicians ignore us at their peril. Newspapers write about us. The right-wing propaganda hurlers hate us---oh they really hate us---for our superior bullshit-detection powers. I hear we're having a little block party in two weeks. And yesterday Lichtenstein surrendered to us without a shot being fired (not so smug now are ya, Belgium?).
Seriously, this is the most amazing place. We play defense and offense simultaneously without breaking a sweat. As we chew up Republican lies and spit out the truth, we're also advancing our own agenda for achieving Kos's "equality of opportunity" in America. Where all people are treated fairly, where we all feel safer because we really are safer, and where transparency and accountability are hallmarks of a bipartisan government that listens to its citizens as much as it does to lobbyists. A crazy goal, I know. But it's better than beating the shit out of a pillow with a tennis racquet while screaming "Mom! Mom! WHY...did you DO that...to ME!!? Or so I hear.
Anyway. Happy Birthday, DailyKos, from User ID #2574. And many blessings on all our camels today. Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Friday, May 26, 2006
Note: C&J's customer service department will be closed on Memorial Day. Just like it is the other 364 days of the year. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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By the Numbers:
Days `til the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas June 8-11: 13
Days `til Father's Day: 23
Number of Americans who still not signed up for Medicare Part D: 4.5 million
(Source: TIME)
Sports trading card sales in 1991 (peak year for the hobby): $1.9 Billion
Trading card sales in 2005: $250 Million
(Source: Wall Street Journal via The Week magazine)
And from the Department of No-Land Security:
Days the federal terror alert system has been in place: 1,530
Days spent at terror alert level Green or Blue: 0
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Your Puppy Pic of the Day: Okay, pay attention: the cat is the Bush administration, and the puppies are members of the traditional media. Any questions?
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CHEERS to the least controversial decision by humans in over 8 thousand years. A jury has convicted Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling on 300 charges of being assholes. Little solace for those who lost money in the Enron collapse, but at least it's something. And let's not forget those love letters between the President and "Kenny Boy." It's good to have (coughcoughpardoncough) friends.
CHEERS to expected guests. This buh-log better be sparkling clean by Sunday. The YearlyKos convention gets a write-up in the New York Times Magazine which means a lot of new visitors will be dropping by. Don't forget to wash behind your ears Saturday night (and, um, does anyone have a girdle I can borrow? Mine burst the other day. Killed a seagull.)
JEERS to "miracle" pills. Interesting---when drug companies fund studies on their own products, the results tend to be much more favorable than if they were done by an independent outfit or a competitor. Researchers say the reason is likely due to medical journals that have a bias toward publishing studies with positive outcomes. If you want to see the good, the bad and the ugly, USA Today says you can visit Clinicalstudyresults.org. Tip: avoid any drug that uses the phrase "unexpectedly turned to goo" in its conclusion.
CHEERS to Robert Giaimo. The former Representative who represented the New Haven, CT district in Congress from 1959 to 1981 has died at 86. Says Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the current occupant of the district he served: "Bob's priority was always making sure that the work we did in Congress---the programs and the funding---impacted those who needed it most." These days, of course, that means "all of us on the Hill running for re-election."
JEERS to our lovely ally in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told the country's newspapers to stop publishing photos of women. His reason: "One needs to think if he would want his daughter, sister, or wife to appear like that. Of course, no one would." Of course. (How long `til America can go solar?)
CHEERS to the need...the need for speed. The high-speed Cat starts regular service between Portland and Nova Scotia today. It skims along the ocean at a cool 50 miles an hour, reaching Yarmouth in just 5½ hours (the old tin-can ferry boat took 13). But make sure you're always holding on to something sturdy---they brake for whales.
CHEERS to Rudolph William Louis Giuliani III. Rudy gets a break from our needling on Sunday...it's his 62nd birthday. Here's the stripper for your party, yer'honor. (That'll make a nice campaign poster, won't it?)
CHEERS to activist Danes. 17 years ago today , Denmark became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage. Crazy sinners---don't they know these relationships rarely last more than 46 years?
JEERS to petty stooges. 34 years ago tomorrow, in 1972, the White House "plumbers" hit the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, setting events in motion that led to Nixon's resignation. The first clue that something was amiss: their bill was reasonable.
JEERS to reefer madness. More evidence that we've outlawed the wrong smoking sticks: A big fat doobie of a study says marijuana---even among heavy users---does NOT cause lung cancer: "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect." Two-pack-a-day cigarette smokers, meanwhile, showed a 20-fold increase in lung cancer. Our new slogan for our campaign against the anti-pot propaganda crowd: "Just Say Bullshit!"
CHEERS to weekend movies. Sure, X-Men 3: Wolverine Conquers Broadway opens today, but if you're lucky enough to live near a theatre showing the soon-to-be-blockbuster An Inconvenient Truth, get in your car lace up your shoes and go. Let us know what you think---but don't spill the ending!
CHEERS to sweet libation. 76 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!
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One Year Ago in C&J: May 26, 2005:
JEERS to bats on the bench. Priscilla "Keep That Water Away From Me, Dorothy!" Owen got confirmed by the Senate yesterday. Al Franken pointed out yesterday that she likes to repeal zoning laws, thus paving the way for "adult video shops" to spring up next to churches. Great! I think I'll build my first "Bill's Discount PornoMart" in Colorado Springs.
CHEERS to the Washington Post. 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...
OUR GRATITUDE to the fallen of too many goddam wars:
The War of Independence
The War of 1812
The Civil War
The Spanish-American War
World War I
World War II
The Korean War
The Vietnam War
And Iraq.
"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." ---Dwight Eisenhower
Have a safe holiday. Floor's open...what are you cheering and jeering about today?
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