(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday [1] [] Date: 2023-10-03 Energize An Ally Tuesday We have been communicated with by Virginia House Democrats, who have a lot on the line this coming election day (November 7) and need our help to accomplish a major task in just 35 days: Republicans hold a slim majority in the Virginia House—we are only three seats away from taking back our majority and stopping MAGA Republicans’ plans to drag us backward. The Wall Street Journal called Virginia’s “the most important elections of 2023,” [but] a political expert has shifted the House of Delegates rating rightward from Lean Democratic, which means Governor Youngkin and his MAGA lackeys are closing in on our edge. With so much on the line—abortion rights, public school funding, lower costs, and so much more—we cannot afford to slow down. That’s why we are working around the clock to elect our incredible candidates and take back our House majority. If we do that, we can protect abortion access and defeat a wannabe GOP presidential nominee in his tracks. Can’t say it any better than that. If you can help ‘em bring sanity back to the House of Delegates by volunteering in one of half a dozen ways, click here. And if you can help out financially, the ActBlue link is here. Thank you. You’re all promoted to honorary colonel. Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, October 3, 2023 Note: Due to the government shutdown, no one has to do any housework today. Also: first person to point out that there is no government shutdown gets a wedgie. —Mgt. - By the Numbers: 3 days!!! Days 'til 2024: 90 Days 'til the Beaufort Shrimp Festival in South Carolina: 3 Years Dianne Feinstein was a U.S. senator: 31 September job-creation forecast (the BLS releases its numbers this Friday): +150,000 Months since Chinese factory owners' outlook for the year ahead was as low as it is now: 12 Rank of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine among U.S. states with the lowest rates of STDs: #1, #2, #3 Number of letters in "blessing," which is the term for a group of unicorns: 8 - Puppy Pic of the Day: Over the river and… - CHEERS to the new kid in the sandbox. We’re sorry, if not surprised, to hear that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) died Friday at 90, leaving behind a 45-year legacy in politics that was, to me at least, two-thirds inspirational and one-third frustrating. As we await next year's California senatorial election to choose a permanent replacement, Governor Gavin Newsom has tapped a temporary one—Emily's List president Laphonza Butler—to virtually unanimous approval: Butler was previously an adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign in 2020, and before that a labor leader. Black, woman, lesbian, pro-choice. The MAGA cult’s gonna need a bigger fainting couch. Newsom issued a statement after news of Butler's impending appointment broke. "An advocate for women and girls, a second-generation fighter for working people, and a trusted adviser to Vice President Harris, Laphonza Butler represents the best of California, and she'll represent us proudly in the United States Senate," Newsom said in his statement. […] California Senator Alex Padilla said in a statement he was honored to welcome her to the Senate. "Throughout her career, Laphonza Butler has been a strong voice for working families, LGBTQ rights, and a champion for increasing women's representation in politics. I'm honored to welcome her to the United States Senate," Padilla's statement read. Even though the new Senate dress code only applies to men, we strongly recommend that Senate-appointee Butler follow current custom and wear titanium shin guards, as Ted Cruz is a known ankle biter. JEERS to the first Monday in October. Ugh. The Supreme Court justices—three normal ones and six corrupt Federalist Society star chamber ones—are back in black and ready to roll back the hands of time this week. On their plate: letting Americans of color know their proper place in society (Spoiler Alert: below whites), screwing around with LGBTQ rights, and basically telling the executive and legislative branches to go fuck themselves. Oh, what fun they'll have… [T]he docket already includes major cases concerning the intersection between the First Amendment and social media, gun rights, racial gerrymandering and the power of the executive branch when it comes to regulation. […] PolitiFact rates this meme: TRUE. The court will still determine if it will hear oral arguments on issues such as medication abortion and transgender rights, not to mention the possibility of a flurry of emergency requests related to the 2024 election. […] In the latest attack against the so-called administrative state, the justices are considering whether to overturn decades old precedent to scale back the power of federal agencies, impacting how the government tackles issues such as climate change, immigration, labor conditions and public health. Before I forget: C&J sends our congratulations to Justice Alito for winning the annual Flies-That-Accumulated-on-the-Supreme-Court-Window-Sills-Over-the-Summer Eating Contest. Sixteenth year in a row—6.4 pounds in two minutes and 18.5 seconds. Hey, they don’t call him Renfield behind his back for nothin’. JEERS to today's boring correction. In yesterday's C&J we assumed that, because Donald Trump indicated he would attend Day 1 of his New York fraud trial, he of course wouldn’t be caught within a hundred miles of it. He did, in fact, show up in court to preen and pout and fold his arms like a petulant child. C&J regrets the error. But while I have your attention… A former top government lawyer appointed by President George W. Bush said Donald Trump has decided that he can't win a $250 million fraud case in New York. x Screen shots of Trump and the judge at the exact same time. pic.twitter.com/BaE4lgQqgx — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 2, 2023 - Moments after Trump entered the courthouse on Monday for his first day of trial, [John] Yoo faulted the former president for kicking off the event with a political speech. "Attacking the judge for being rogue, saying the main prosecutor, the attorney general, is racist," Yoo told Fox News. "Now there's no way that this judge is going to find at all in favor of President Trump." No objection here, Your Honor. - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to 24 hours of vittles and gratitude. This country is so stingy with holidays and free time in general. It's like relaxing = slacking or something, and it's ridiculous. But at least Honest Abe Lincoln gave us a little respite when he was president. On October 3, 1863, he gave a speech in which he proclaimed the last Thursday in November as "Thanksgiving Day." Then the tryptophan kicked in and he fell asleep. Slacker. CHEERS to bright medals for bright minds. It's Nobel Prize Giving-Away Week, that most wonderful time of year when I can confirm that, relatively speaking, I'm one dumb-as-rocks man-child with a brain that resembles moldy drywall. The latest winner announced yesterday in the "Medicine, Physiology, or Dessert Topping” category hails from…USA! USA! USA! What a lovely, delightful middle finger salute to RFK Jr., Ron DeSantis, and the ghost of Herman Cain: A Hungarian American and an American won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of the mRNA vaccines for Covid, saving millions of lives during the pandemic. You can slip this into any gumball machine in the world. (But we don’t recommend it.) Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman made “fundamental discoveries” along the path to create the vaccines, said Rickard Sandberg, a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Weissman and Karikó's research had laid the groundwork for the millions of doses of vaccines produced by companies like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Their research cleared the major hurdle to the vaccines' effectiveness, stopping a person's immune system from targeting the lab-made mRNA. For the Nobel committee it was an easy decision based on three critical criteria: they pored over the science, analyzed the real-world results and, most critically, confirmed that the MyPillow guy had absolutely nothing to do with it. P.S. Here's the rest of the Nobel schedule: Physics today, Chemistry tomorrow, Literature by blogger with candy corn addiction Thursday, Peace Friday, and economics next Monday. I'm really excited about my prospects Thursday. I already aced the flaming-baton twirling portion. - Ten years ago in C&J: October 3, 2013 CHEERS to blowing the doors off the internet! I'm dying to know how the Obamacare exchanges are doing…because if they're proving to be popular I want to join them so I can cure myself of dying to know how the Obamacare exchanges are doing. Please turn your monitor and cough… A senior Obama administration official reported that just three hours after Obamacare’s open enrollment period launched, the national Healthcare.gov site had one million visitors. That’s five times more users on the site than the number of users who have ever visited Medicare.gov at the same time. At about 3:45 pm, the White House’s deputy press secretary reported that up to 2.8 million people had visited the site since its launch, and 81,000 people had called the federal hotline to get information about Obamacare. I poked around the web site a bit. (Maine is one of the states with idiot Republican governors who aren't lifting a finger to help people get affordable health insurance, so I have to use the federal exchange at healthcare.gov.) But I didn't sign up yesterday because I have to make sure my plan includes a good procrastinologist. Today isn't looking good either. Maybe tomorrow. Or November. - And just one more… CHEERS to lovebirds with longevity. "Barack and Michelle...sittin' in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary today. To put that in perspective, that's longer than any of Donald Trump's, Rudy Giuliani's or Newt Gingrich's three marriages (or, for that matter, the blissfully departed Rush Limbaugh’s four). Their genuine affection and support for each other while in the White House was inspiring, classing up everything from haughty state dinners to raucous campaign rallies to public service campaigns to readings of Where the Wild Things Are at the Easter Egg Roll. You simply could not see these two having a great time together and not break your face smiling. To prove all of my points above, enjoy a few memories: October 3, 1992 - - - The Obamas in September 2009. Sasha’s now a graduate of USC. Malia’s a graduate of Harvard. - - - 2018: Hosting an event at the site of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. - - - One year ago: unveiling the official White House portraits. I’m told that the anniversary gift for year 31 is a timepiece. Hey, they should give each other belts made of watches. Or would that be a...waist of time? (Blame the internet for that, not me.) Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial “If you agree Bill in Portland Maine should be incarcerated, please sign up for my newsletter. The only person who will regret it is the motherfucker himself.” —Mary Trump - [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/3/2196670/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Tuesday 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/