(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday [1] [] Date: 2023-10-17 Energize An Ally Tuesday We’ve been updated 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 21 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. Losing even one of these key races could mean abortion bans, weaker gun laws, and higher costs for Virginians. But if our candidates win in the most competitive districts this November, we can take back the House of Delegates and forge a better Virginia where our rights, our freedoms, and our democracy aren’t under the constant fire of MAGA extremism. We’re going all out in the final 21 days of the election: volunteers are knocking on doors, yard signs are going up, and our candidates are reaching Virginians in every single zip code, so no one’s left behind. Three weeks and counting. 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. Because the only thing the MAGA cult should be allowed to hold onto these days is their baby blankies. Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, October 17, 2023 Note: Today's note has the day off, and the only thing the temp agency had on such short notice was a diphthong. It wishes to make the following announcement: Cow. - By the Numbers: 4 days!!! Days 'til National Nut Day: 5 Days 'til the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro, Vermont: 4 Amount that Americans failed to pay in taxes on their 2021 returns, a record level: $688 billion Percent of taxes that are paid voluntarily and on time: 85% Percent chance that David Brinn, managing editor of Israel's largest English language daily newspaper The Jerusalem Post, grew up in Portland, Maine: 100% Rate at which pubs in England and Wales were demolished or converted to other uses during the first six months of 2023: 2 per day Increase in hard cider sales in Maine over the past year: 10% - Puppy Pic of the Day: In Sevier County, Tennessee…..YIKES!!! - CHEERS to clobbering the cult where it really hurts. Tell me again, which is the "party of fiscal responsibility"? When it comes to raking it in for the 2024 presidential election, the Democrats are cleaning the MAGA cult's clock. And it ain't even close: Today, Team Biden-Harris announced that it raised more than $71 million in the third quarter of 2023—on par with the Q2 haul—demonstrating continued strong support and enthusiasm for the President and Vice President’s reelection campaign. The Dynamic Duo is rakin’ it in. The team is also reporting today that it has a historic nearly $91 million in cash on hand, the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle. Team Biden-Harris’ Q3 fundraising is significantly more than any of the GOP 2024 campaigns, and the team’s cash-on-hand is widely expected to be more than the entire GOP field combined. Team Biden-Harris doubled its individual contributions since launch to a total of more than 1.4 million and has brought in over 240,000 new donors who did not contribute to the campaign in 2020. Additionally, Team Biden-Harris doubled the number of sustaining donors this quarter over last quarter, for a Democratic record total of over 112,000 people who have committed to donating every month. Said the Democrats: That money means more ads, more outreach, more organization, and a lot more late-night pizzas for the staff. Said the media pundits: We're concerned their money is too old. CHEERS to setting things right. At long last it looks like the gerrymanderers have reached their high-water mark and are starting to lose their power, as district maps turn into comically-twisted pretzels that are no longer sustainable. Via yesterday’s New York Times' morning email comes this bit of sunshine for the 2024 outlook: In Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court forced officials to redraw the map to add one majority Black (and therefore Democratic-leaning) district. In New York, Democrats are trying to redraw the map to flip several seats. In Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, other legal challenges could help Democrats. If everything goes Democrats’ way, roughly 10 House seats could become meaningfully easier to win. Next year, the party needs to net only five seats to reclaim the House. New York alone could switch six seats from leaning Republican to leaning Democrat. […] “The House map is pretty equitable now, certainly more so than it was 10 years ago,” David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report told me. If the cases go in Democrats’ favor, he added, “it could make the House map even a little bit bluer on balance than a random map would be.” Having Democrats back in control of the House, under Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, would be good for the country since our side tends to be more adept at doing one specific thing better than Republicans. I believe political observers refer to it as “everything.” CHEERS to book learnin'. On October 17, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating the Department of Education. It's one of the departments that the frothy right always threaten to abolish because of its communist-socialist-libturd mission to turn every school into a monolithic institution of brainwashing. Except, well, not so much…. The Department of Education does not establish schools or colleges … Unlike the systems of most other countries, education in the United States is highly decentralized, and the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curricula or educational standards (with the recent exception of the No Child Left Behind Act). This has been left to state and local school districts. The quality of educational institutions and their degrees is maintained through an informal private process known as accreditation, over which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control. Did ya catch that? George W. Bush, the mighty titan of the party of "states' rights," increased the federal government’s authority over public education. What will we tell the children? - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - x Have you ever seen a Binturong? Also known as the bearcat, it is native to South East Asia: it's the only member of genus Arctictis. It's a threatened species, but common in zoos, where they are essential for long-term conservation. [📹 pachy_zookeeper]pic.twitter.com/xy3fSzMKX8 — Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 13, 2023 - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to blowing this popsicle stand. On this date in 532, Boniface II ended his reign as Catholic Pope, having finally saved enough money as a part-time farmhand to step down and blow this town to pursue his dream as a Fosse dancer on Broadway. No, wait, wait, wait. Sorry—on this date in 532 he actually died. I swear, that’s the last time I trust my history research to Footlooseipedia. JEERS to Captain Crimey's big fat mouth. Refreshing our memories regarding the post-presidency of the worst, most corrupt and incompetent POTUS in history, numbers-wise: 4 state/federal trials, 91 felony counts that could result in 700 years behind bars and, as of yesterday, 2 gag orders, the latest from Washington D.C.: The judge overseeing the federal election interference case on Monday issued a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump, forbidding him from making statements about potential witnesses or making disparaging comments about the prosecutors. Judge Chutkan will have none of your shenanigans. “Mr. Trump may still vigorously seek public support as a presidential candidate, debate policies and people related to that candidacy, criticize the current administration and assert his belief that this prosecution is politically motivated,” Judge [Tanya] Chutkan said. “But those critical first amendment freedoms do not allow him to launch a pre-trial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families and foreseeable witnesses.” "I cannot imagine any other criminal case" in which a criminal defendant could call prosecutors deranged or a thug, Chutkan added. “No other defendant would be allowed to do so and I’m not going to allow it in this case." Sadly there was one crucial thing missing from Trump's gag order: a ball. - Ten years ago in C&J: October 17, 2013 JEERS to Dubya as usual. The 43rd president said the invasion would be a cakewalk…that it would be quick and easy and he'd be greeted as liberator. Instead it turned into a quagmire resulting in a grueling slog that cost a lot more than expected and was much worse than he originally predicted. No, not in Iraq. In his own cardiovascular system. And as he was recuperating in a private hospital recovery suite all I could think was: it took him a decade, but by god Bush finally found a way to get people to greet him with sweets and flowers. - And just one more… CHEERS to today's required legalese. With that dastardly FEC running around checking everybody’s ps and qs, we best be up front about C&J’s dark-money activities for at least one day this election season: DISCLAIMER: The Concerned United National American Center Institute Chamber Enterprise Foundation Gateway Commission Gaggle Office Consortium Coalition Crossroad Fund Organization Citizens for the Protection Defense Sanctity and Advancement of Sensible Freedom Liberty Values Growth Hope Progress Prosperity Opportunity Responsibility Commerce Change Protection Mothers Fathers Children Families Puppies Patriots, Babies, Baby Wipes and Blue Skies But Against Fraud Waste Abuse Deficits Taxation Without Representation Treading On Me and Tyranny is responsible for the content of this blog post. To contact us, talk to the slobbering 150-pound rottweiler guarding our Cayman Islands P.O. box. His name is Fluffy. For a complete list of our donors, go outside and wish on a star. If the names don’t magically fall out of the sky, well, we tried. Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial "The next time Bill in Portland Maine tries to accost me with candy corn in his hand, I want him outta here! He’s an animal!” —Rep. George Santos - [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/17/2199585/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Tuesday?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web 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/