(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Monday [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-02-06 Cheers and Jeers for Monday, February 6, 2023 Note: A friendly reminder that February is officially designated as Bird Feeding Month. Please remember to fill your bird feeders all the way to the top every day with a fine assortment of nuts and seeds. They especially appreciate cashews, walnuts, and almonds. In fact, you can skip the seeds. Nuts would be perfect. In fact, you should go fill your feeder right now. Remember: birds love nuts! Thank you. —The Squirrels, Who Just Want What's Best For the Birds - 9 days!!! By the Numbers: Days 'til we turn our clocks ahead: 35 Days 'til the National Farm Machinery Show & Tractor Pull in Louisville: 9 Jobs created in January, versus 185,000 forecast: 517,000 Jobs created last year, 300,000 more than forecast: 4.8 million Pure profit made by Shell Oil last year: $40 billion Percent of Americans polled by ABC News/Washington Post who believe the police are adequately trained to avoid the use of excessive force, down from 54% a decade ago: 39% Percent who believe the police treat all citizens equally: 41% - Puppy Pic of the Day: Human sled goes sledding… - CHEERS to the state of the states. What a novel idea: instead of our first presidential primaries taking place in cold, lily-white states (cough-IowaNewHampshire-cough) like they have since the 1700s (aka the "Era of Good Chamber Pots"), the DNC got together over the weekend and shook things up by putting a warm, diverse state in the pole position for 2024: The new plan has been championed by President Joe Biden, who is expected to formally announce his reelection campaign in the coming months. Jaime Harrison: the most consequential DNC chair since Howard Dean. The reconfiguring would have South Carolina hold its primary on Feb. 3, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada, which is swapping the caucus it used to hold in favor of a primary. Georgia would vote fourth on Feb. 13, followed by Michigan on Feb. 27, with much of the rest of the nation set to vote on Super Tuesday in early March. "The Democratic Party looks like America and so does this proposal," the party chairman, Jaime Harrison, said before the plan was approved. It "elevates the backbone of our party," he said. Needless to say, Iowa is not happy and plans to fight the decision. Leading the charge: the corn dog industry. JEERS to frozen assets. Oh, we have been spoiled the last couple years—here in Maine, at least—with what seemed like winters that zipped right along and didn’t give us a whole lot of trouble. But Friday and Saturday we were thrust once again into the deep freeze—an Arctic vortex they call it. How cold was it? So cold the squirrels put hot potatoes in their coat pockets on their way to work at the widget factory. Colder than Ted Cruz's man-boobs in a brass bra face-down in a snowbank. Colder than Ron DeSantis at a civil liberties convention. Colder than Jeff Bezos at a pro-union rally. It was so cold that, for a brief shining 24 hours, global warming was a hoax. I’ve never seen Republicans up here so happy. CHEERS to Massachusetts. The commonwealth and somewhat influential original 13-Colonies colony officially became the sixth member of our kooky union on February 6, 1788. And once again I'd like to remind the right-wingers who bash it for being a den of anything-goes liberalism that: And this Massachusetts senator is a bona fide political rock star. a) the Salem witch trials were conducted by Trumpian ultra-conservatives, b) the freedoms you guys have to speak your evolution-denyin', LGBTQ-hating, deep-state-conspiracy-deluded minds are largely the result of a bunch of Massachusetts types who shed their blood to make it possible, c) the state has one of the lowest divorce rates in the country, d) it's the home of Romneycare, the genesis of Obamacare which you now love, e) it's also the birthplace of Necco Wafers, making it the cradle of all that is wholesome and chalky and civilized. But we'll concede that Bay Staters (who I never refer to as "Massholes" until they’re safely back home after spending their money…er, I mean, spending their summer here) do act like fundies in one respect: they drive like they're all late to Second Coming. - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to easy layups. As you may have heard, a Chinese surveillance balloon was seen floating over the United States. The Chinese say it was just a weather balloon. The Pentagon brass say it was a spy balloon. The MAGA cult and the media say it's the worst thing to happen on Joe Biden's watch and he should be IMPEACHED!!! Personally, I'm not a fan of whatever kind of balloon China sent because we have enough inflation here already! Thank you. CHEERS to the Gipper’s flickers. Today is Saint Ronald Reagan’s 112th birthday. He made some classic movies, including Kings Row, Knute Rockne: All American, The Killers (the 1964 version, in which he plays a real meanie), and Santa Fe Trail. Oh, and this: - Other than that, I have no recollection of him. Well, except the tax-raising, deficit-ballooning, race-baiting, illegal-arms-trading, AIDS-ignoring, tan-suit-wearing, and bowing-to-foreign-leaders part. (And after 40 years—[taps watch]—that trickle-down magic can start anytime now.) - Ten years ago in C&J: February 6, 2013 CHEERS to the wisdom of the Baby Blue Cherub. So the Karl Rove (aka country club) wing of the tattered Republican party is declaring war on the Jim DeMint (aka tea party) wing of the tattered Republican party. Sure, they're tussling to get their preferred candidates in office so they can unleash their ideological krakens, but Atrios knows what this is really about: The funny thing about various Republican groups fighting each other is that they're really just fighting over money. Neither team needs to win elections to get rich. Political consulting: nice work if you can get it. - And just one more… CHEERS to movin' and groovin'. Congrats to the winners last night at the Grammy Awards, including Bonnie Raitt for Song of the Year (Just Like That), Viola Davis for Best Spoken Word (Finding Me) that gains her entry into the exclusive EGOT Club, and Willie Nelson for Country Solo Performance. And, thanks to the Best Alternative Music Performance award bestowed on Wet Leg, the world finally has its first Grammy-winning song with the words… Is your muffin buttered? Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin? Excuse me (What?) Excuse me (What?) Hey, you, over there On the chaise longue, in your underwear What are you doing sitting down? You should be horizontal now On the chaise longue, on the chaise longue Mark my words, DJs. That's got "first wedding dance" written all over it. Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial “I’ve been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called Bill in Portland Maine. Has anybody heard of Bill in Portland Maine? What is it with this guy?” —Boris Johnson - [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/6/2150972/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Monday 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/