Midnight Meme Of The Day!

-by Noah

Given to us as a gift, the Statue Of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. It arrived in New York in 1884, was assembled, and dedicated on October 28, 1886. Since then it has been exactly what it was meant to be; a beacon of liberty and a welcome to all immigrants. Liberty herself is Libertas, the Roman Goddess of Liberty. She holds a torch, not of the republican Tiki variety, but a symbol of "Liberty enlightening the world." The book Liberty holds is inscribed with the date of our Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. The most powerful, and, sadly, most ignored symbol lies at her feet. It is a broken chain.

Recently, Donald Trump's Senior Policy Advisor, Stephen Miller, made a sick, twisted effort to neuter the words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" by saying the words were added to the statue after it was dedicated. In fact, the words were added 17 years later in 1903 but, what the bigoted to his core Miller conveniently neglected to mention was that the words are the most crucial part of a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus to help raise the funding for the statue itself in 1883. Miller's statement amounts to just one more example of the White House attitude toward immigrants.

In past sad eras of our American history, lots of countries have been considered shitholes by our most strident and disgusting bigots. In the mid-19th century, one of those countries was Ireland. Businesses looking for people to employ made a habit of putting signs in their windows that read "Irish Need Not Apply." As we entered the 20th century, the same conservative types regarded Italians as coming from a shithole country. Even as late as the 1930s, the great baseball player Joe DiMaggio was called a "The Dago Yankee" by Life magazine, right on its cover. Later, Nixon's tapes revealed his hate for Jews. In more recent times, not much has changed, only the ethnic targets. What is different is that we have an overtly fascist president who is not just cheerleading this hate and emboldening other bigots, but also trying to make his hate into law; counter to the meanings of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and the words that we can find on the Statue of Liberty.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party backs Trump's language and actions. On Friday, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Senator David Perdue (R-GA) issued a joint statement saying that, although they were at the White House meeting where Trump issued his shithole statement, they just "couldn't recall" hearing it. Really? Wouldn't you? Thankfully, both Democratic Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and, surprisingly, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) made it clear that they could confirm that Trump said the words that have been attributed to him, although Graham did so more indirectly. And, really, given Trump's past statements, we should, in no way, be surprised he said what he said? Trump, of course, denied it all. Perhaps, he can't handle the truth.

Sadly, this whole incident shows us that the feelings or the Republican Party and it's leadership represent a perversion of what the Statue of Liberty is supposed to represent.

You Can't Say Trump Brought Back A Know Nothing Ethos-- Since It's Never Really Gone Away

Jews voted overwhelmingly for Hillary against Trump last year, but immigrant Jews, especially from Russia, voted for Trump. Emma Lazarus was born in 1849 to a family of Jewish immigrants from Germany, although she is known for her writings about Russian Jewish immigrants who fled the pogroms that followed the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. And, of course, she's even better known for her 1883 sonnet, "The New Colossus," which was placed on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty 1903.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Today, most Americans who are aware of it's existence at all, know the lines

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I wonder what people-- both Trump voters and normal Americans-- would think/say/do if he decided to physically remove the plaque. Trump's war with Emma Lazarus' poem isn't about "illegals." It's about his own ugly xenophobia and the Know Nothing stand of American politics that energizes his base of supporters. As Heather Long wrote in yesterday's Washington Post Trump's steep cut in legal immigration-- from a million annually to half that-- is seen as a "grave mistake" by most-- like nearly 90%-- economists.

Experts overwhelmingly predict it would slow growth-- the exact opposite of what Trump wants to do with “MAGAnomics.”

“Restricting immigration will only condemn us to chronically low rates of economic growth,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group. “It also increases the risk of a recession.”

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly told illegal immigrants to “get out.” Now he wants to cut back on legal immigration as well. On Wednesday, Trump stood side-by-side with Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) to endorse their bill, the RAISE Act. The bill does two things: It moves the United States toward a "skills-based immigration system" where people with special skills get top priority and it cuts legal immigration by 50 percent.

"This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families," Trump said Wednesday. He believes immigrants-- both legal and illegal-- take jobs from Americans, even though the jobless rate in the country is incredibly low.

...“We need to modernize the immigration system, but cutting immigration in half is bad for the economy and bad policy,” says Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy, a coalition founded by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to improve U.S. immigration policy.

Robbins points out that Canada and Australia-- the supposed models for the Trump administration's reforms-- both let in more than double the number of immigrants per capita than the United States does. There are also concerns that such a dramatic cut to legal immigration would cause illegal immigration to rise.

Cotton introduced the RAISE Act in February. It wasn't expected to go far given the crowded to-do list for Congress this year, but Trump's news conference Wednesday is giving it new life.

In April, over 1,400 economists from across the political spectrum sent a letter to Trump urging him not to cut immigration. The letter said there was “near universal agreement” on the “the broad economic benefit that immigrants to this country bring.” Thomas Simons, senior economist at Jefferies investment firm, said a 50 percent reduction would be “absolutely harmful to an economy with a population undergoing the demographic transformation.”

The bottom line is that the United States needs more workers. Growth happens when one of two things occurs: The economy gets more workers or the existing workers become more productive. At the moment, both of those factors are red flags. Productivity growth is sluggish, and, as Trump has pointed out many times, the percentage of American adults who actually work-- the labor-force participation rate-- is hovering at the lowest levels since the 1970s.

A big part of the problem is the baby boomers are starting to retire. The United States needs more people to replace them, but the U.S. birthrate just hit a historic low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's why many economists, demographers and business owners keep calling for more immigration, not less.

“Limiting immigration to the U.S. is a grave mistake,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “The only way to meaningfully increase U.S. economic growth on a sustained basis anytime soon is to increase immigration.” During the campaign, Zandi predicted that Trump's protectionist stances on trade and immigration would lead to a “lengthy recession.”

Trump portrays immigrants as scooping up American jobs. But the data appears to tell a different story.

U.S. unemployment is at 4.4 percent. In May, unemployment hit the lowest level since 2001, a milestone Trump celebrated. That implies there aren't many people struggling to find work. At the same time, the United States has 5.7 million job openings, which is near a record high. It's been that way for a year now. Business leaders with big and small firms say they can't find enough workers. They are especially vocal about not being able to find enough people for really low-skilled, low-pay work and for really high-skilled jobs.

Trump is already heeding the calls for more lower-skilled workers. His administration recently bumped up visas for seasonal foreign workers by 15,000, a 45 percent increase from last year.

There is growing support for moving the United States to a more merit-based immigration system. The idea is to attract more of the immigrant workers that the country desperately needs. At the moment, only 15 percent of green cards are issued for employment reasons, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

...From an economic standpoint, the key is to get more workers with the desired skills into the country. It's why the tech community is lobbying so hard for more H-1B visas. Immigrants also tend to start more businesses. While start-up founders in Silicon Valley are glorified, the reality is business formation in the United States is near a 40-year low. That worries Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust.

“Countries that get collectively older are granted fewer patents, start fewer small businesses and take fewer risks with capital,” Tannenbaum said. All of that hurts economic growth.

Doug Applegate, a former Marine colonel and the progressive opponent for GOP bigot Darrell Issa was crystal clear about where he stands on the immigration debate. This is a statement he sent out to voters in San Diego and Orange counties yesterday"

We are a nation of immigrants. One of the values our country was founded on is the acceptance of individuals from all over the world, with notions of lifting every person up and presenting opportunities they could not get elsewhere.



The most recent actions of Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have attempted to demolish the values our nation was founded on. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue have outlined new legislation that will cut legal immigration in half and cap refugees at 50,000 a year.



Let’s be clear: This legislation is created under the false notion, which the Trump administration has continually pushed forward, that immigrants are taking away jobs from Americans and negatively impacting our communities.



I wholeheartedly know that to be false. I know that right here in California, and all over the country, we celebrate and embrace all cultures. We grow as we learn from one another, and we lift one another up to make this country better. Immigrants are our friends, our family, our colleagues, our neighbors, and their contributions are woven into the fabric of our lives.

The United States needs appropriate and comprehensive immigration reform-- but it should not deny children and family members of citizens or those with green cards just because our government is being led by a few closed-minded xenophobes. When I am in Congress, I will fight for sensible, compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform, with pathways to citizenship for our millions of hard-working undocumented residents.

Another military veteran and progressive candidate for Congress Blue America has endorsed is Jim Thompson (KS-04). The kind of insight he shows as he analyzed what Trump and Cotton are up to helps get a grasp on the kind of congressman he will be. He wrote that Trump's "new immigration policy is nothing more than a reflection of the homogenized world he wants to build, giving preference to those who speak English and already possess money and power. The practical effect of this policy will be to give admission to those individuals from western countries while denying entry to poor, non-Christian, and non-English speaking people. No longer will we allow entry to the poor, the hungry, or the huddled masses yearning to be free. From the Burroughs of New York, to the beaches of Florida and California, to the hills of Wisconsin and Minnesota, what would our country look like today if this policy had been in effect throughout our history. Our diversity is our strength. It has been woven into the fabric of our society because we once believed that all men and women are created equal and entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

  "When a person joins the military, he or she agrees to give their life if needed to defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. President Trump cannot understand such selflessness because he dodged service in the armed forces during Vietnam. He does not know what it means to place his life in the hands of another and have them place their lives in his. Shamefully, Trump would deport soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and any member of their family that are not citizens. Deportations such as this will seriously jeopardize military readiness and enlistment. We owe these men and women a debt of gratitude for protecting us and our loved ones. Military service should guarantee citizenship and stop any deportation of a family member. Upon completion of the initial enlistment, the immediate family of any service member should be given citizenship as well. To do otherwise dishonors not just these brave men and women, but all who swore an oath to defend this country and sacrificed their lives. The graves in Arlington do not distinguish between citizen and non-citizen, and neither should our President."

  Sam Jammal is the Blue America-endorsed candidate running for the Democratic nomination to take on notorious bigot Ed Royce, long famous for disparaging immigrants. Sam told us that his parents-- "like so many others before them-- came to America to build a better life. My mother came to the United States from South America to finish high school and my father came from the Middle East. Neither started with much, but they worked hard and sacrificed so my siblings and I could achieve the American Dream. This is the story for so many Americans. America is a welcoming country-- the land of hope and opportunity. We are a country where someone like me-- the son of an immigrant fast food restaurant worker-- can run for Congress. This is why I started my career working in civil rights at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)-- because we need an immigration system that works and is in line with our values. When it comes to immigration, it's about solutions, not divisive rhetoric. I strongly support Senator Duckworth's legislation to protect our military veterans from deportation. Someone willing to put their life on the line for our country should have their sacrifice honored regardless of their immigration status. This is the type of solutions oriented policy we need-- not what the Trump Administration and Ed Royce are proposing. Given the diversity of the 39th district, its shameful that Ed Royce refuses to speak out against the Trump immigration plan. But its not a surprise given Ed's 97% voting record with Trump and silence on every other bad policy being put out by this Administration."

Sam is referring to a very different kind of bill from Cotton's ugly xenophobic legislation, one that was introduced in the Senate by Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) on Thursday. Their bill attempts to protect U.S. military veterans convicted of nonviolent offenses from arbitraty deportation. Duckworth's and Cortez Masto's bill would also allow deported veterans convicted of nonviolent offenses to reenter the country to access Veterans Administration health care facilities, and allow deported veterans to apply for visas to permanently return to the U.S. Duckworth: "Men and women willing to wear our uniform shouldn’t be deported by the same nation they risked their lives to defend."

I get the impression that this scapegoating of immigrants is pissing off Randy Bryce, the progressive running against Paul Ryan in southeast Wisconsin, just over the Illinois border. "I turned on my tv," he told us, "to see Stephen Miller distancing the White House from the Statue of Liberty. It wasn’t any surprise. I guess the big problem is that I still haven’t gotten used to Trump’s America (not mine) looking down it’s nose at those who have made the US what it is. How soon until 'melting pot' is removed from our vocabulary? Staying on the subject, I recently read some legislation being proposed by my (s)hero Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Do we really need a law to tell us that anyone willing to Serve in the US military might be someone we want to thank instead of deport? Apparently so-- seeing as the current resident of our White House who called it 'a dump' and took multiple deferments in order to avoid defending us chose Stephen Miller to do his talking."

Jenny Marshall is the courageous progressive running for the North Carolina seat occupied by one of Congress' worst bigots, Virginia Foxx. Jenny told us that her great grandparents "came to America from Poland and settled in Chicago. My grandfather didn't speak a word of English until he went to Kindergarten. This is a familiar story for millions of American's who can trace their roots to immigrants who flocked to this country for a better life and a place they could call home. Under Trump's RAISE plan my great grandparents and others like them would not have been allowed to come here. These immigrant newcomers become part of their communities. They join PTAs at their children's school, buy houses, learn a trade, start businesses and even serve our country in the military. They weave their story into the fabric that becomes America. But, frankly, our immigration system needs an overhaul. It is difficult to maneuver, subjective and is often out of reach for those who truly need to flee their home country for a better life. We could do much better. Take for instance Senator Tammy Duckworth's newly introduced legislation which could remedy a current injustice where non citizen men and women who serve in our military are subject to deportation. Do we really want to be a nation who deports our veterans? I say no and I support her efforts to right the wrong here. We must prioritize these servicemembers' path to citizenship and allow them to remain in the country they fought so bravely to protect."

David Gill is the progressive physician running for Congress against rubber stamp Republican hack Rodney Davis in Illinois' 13th district. This morning he told us that Trump and the Republicans "unveiled an immigration bill that is nothing more than an ethnic purity test. No matter what Trump tells you, his immigration policies will not improve our economy or make us safer. This is just more of the same unadulterated bigotry that we've seen time and time again from this man, and I look forward to getting to Congress in January 2019 to stand in his way when he seeks to discriminate against people based on their religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation. I'm proud to see my senator, Tammy Duckworth, propose bills to protect veterans from deportation. It's obvious that deportation of such veterans smacks of the same bigotry we see demonstrated repeatedly by the commander-in-chief. I'm a 24-year member of the American Civil Liberties Union, and I can't wait to get to work eliminating such naked racism from our federal government."

2013 in Review -- A Prayer to the Janitor of Lunacy,* Part 6 (and last!): In the words of Dan Quayle, "What a waste it is to lose one's mind"

Exploiting tragedy for a buck; plus Miss America's not American?, "Quote of the Year" winner

[*TO MEET THE JANITOR OF LUNACY, SEE PART 1]

Miss America, Missouri-born Nina Davuluri -- zowie!

by Noah

THE MINDS OF CORPORATISTS:
EXPLOITING TRAGEDY FOR A BUCK

What is it about the corporate mind? How do the idiots who make decisions in our corporations continually get it so wrong, so tasteless and obnoxious? Is it a mediocrity-rising- to-the-corner-office thing? Does the seduction of the perks that come with position make one oblivious? Is that why the Detroit car companies of the early 1970s decided to keep building gas-guzzling cars the size of aircraft carriers even when it was clear that it wasn't what the public wanted? Is it, like with politicians, something that happens when you put on a suit and tie and only talk to people like yourself everyday? Does that tie cut off blood circulation to the brain?

Case in point: AT&T's über-tacky advertising use of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001. What did these goons do? What were they thinking? Are they even capable of normal thought processes?

AT&T decided to use the 9/11 tragedy to sell their phones! Classy! AT&T used social media (Twitter, Instagram and even their Facebook page) to show a photo of a hand using a smart phone to take a picture of the twin lights that rise where the towers once stood and illuminate New York City's skyline on every 9/11 anniversary. It's a tasteless moment of "Let us remember, and hey, have you thought about buying one of our spiffy new phones? Bring tragedy into sharper relief! More pixels!"

What will AT&T assault us with next? Pictures of their phones taking pictures of plane crashes? Pictures of subway suicide jumpers? Hey, I know! Starvation victims in Africa! Shooting victims in schools! "It's Almost Like Being There!"

The possibilities for AT&T to use tragic events to attempt to sell phones are endless in this sad world. How about one with that terrified naked nine-year-old Vietnamese girl running toward the camera after being napalmed? That would be advertising genius, no? Smart phone; dumb-ass execs.

The whole thing reminded me of how the entire Republican Party assaulted New York City for their 2004 convention, practically chanting "9/11, 9/11, 9/11" over and over, exploiting 9/11 to scare as many voters into reelecting Dubya as possible. That time it worked.

After the massive insta-backlash from the public, AT&T issued this perfunctory statement:

"We apologize to anyone who felt our post was in poor taste. The image was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy."

Well, weren't we all affected by the tragedy? Don't we all respect those who died? Are there those who weren't affected? Note to AT&T execs: Pease tie that tie quite a bit tighter. Maybe you can then go operate some factory machinery. I'll have my phone ready.


WHEN IS MISS AMERICA NOT AMERICAN?

Well, if you are a Republican, apparently when she's the newly crowned Miss America, Nina Davuluri, who not only has an Indian surname but is dark-skinned. That, in the Republican mind, is enough to disqualify one from being an American, even if, like Nina, you were born in Missouri and your parents moved here over 30 years ago. Jeez, I hope she never decides to run for president. It'll be Birth Certificate-palooza all over again.

It seems that Republicans preferred that the runner-up contestant, blonde and blue-eyed Theresa Vail, from neighboring Kansas and an Army sergeant, win. I'm sure she was qualified, just as Nina was. So what's the big deal? Frankly, I'm surprised that anyone even pays attention to this yearly glorification of corporately sponsored bulimia, anorexia, and pointless baton-twirling.

Proving that right-wing lunacy doesn't just come from Republican politicians, here's a sample of the reaction from the reactionaries who obviously vote Republican. As usual we can start with the kooks at Fox "News." Here's Fox's Todd Starnes:

"The liberal Miss America judges won't say this, but Miss Kansas lost because she actually represented American values."

After that, the rest of Republikook World felt free to crawl out of their abandoned missile silos, doomsday castles, and mansions long enough to tweet:


Hmmm. Indian Arab. Born in Missouri. Indians are Arabs? Who knew? Damn that diversity! Next they'll allow women! Real women, not the Miss McConnell or J. Edgar Hoover-in-a-black-dress kind.

Other comments from the Repug twittersphere:

"If you're Miss America, you should have to be American."

"So Miss America is a terrorist!"

"9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets Miss America?"

The last of these likened the newly crowned Miss America's photo to a photo of a Middle Eastern man wielding a firearm.

Confusing and conflating the names of two entirely different countries also entered into the twitsphere when one woman, displaying a Palinesque knowledge of the globe, wrote:

"I'm not a racist. She is representing America doing an Indonesian dance. If it was a Miss Universe pageant it would have been cool."

India, Indonesia. What's the dif, eh?

BuzzFeed offers a whole catalog of tweets from Repug World, including a mini-photo essay of what one Republican mind considers a proper Miss America.

Ironically, Miss Davuluri is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan who got her degree in brain behavior and cognitive science.

Real Americans want a real American Miss America
(You'd like to think Theresa would be embarrassed)



TODAY'S "QUOTE OF THE YEAR" NOMINEES

1. American neo-Nazi (U.S. National Socialist Movement) leader Jeff Schoep:

"We have to start somewhere. So if we start in small towns and spread out from there, it's sort of a test ground in that sense, where if we're able to get off the ground here, then we're able to get off the ground in other places."

Commander Schoep, as he is known to his fellow Nazis, was talking about his group's plan to buy up cheap property in North Dakota and build whites-only communities not only there but throughout America, starting in the small town of Leith, ND, which happens to be in one of the whitest counties in all of the United States. Can't you just see Sean Hannity or Pat Buchanan running for mayor of Leith?

If the Nazi group's plan is successful, can we expect such small towns to become popular campaign stops for teabaggers and other Republican types in the near future> $en. Lindsay Graham has already bemoaned the fact that his party is running out of angry old white men, as they all die off, although I suppose maybe he's just concerned about who he'll hang out with once McCain is gone.

Perhaps old Repugs can just go retire to these model Nazi communities, where they can feel comfortable being among their own kind. They can wave their Confederate freak flags high and stop fussing about "brown people" and "strange food."

Whites-only retirement communities, maybe even funded by the Koch Brothers! They can even go around firing off six-shooters at one another to their hearts' content, hastening the inevitable. Sorry, Eric Cantor,you can't come. I know, I know, you want to belong. You've tried. But it just isn't permitted. It's not just the golf courses anymore.

2. Phyllis Schlafly -- conservative activist, lawyer, anti-feminist, and staunch opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment

"The Statue of Liberty memorializes the unique liberty we enjoy in America. It has nothing whatever to do with immigration."

Dear Phyllis: First of all, you "memorialize" something when it's gone, just as you memorialize people when they're gone. As for the Statue of Liberty having nothing to do with immigration, I guess that "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . " translates, in Republicanese, to "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and we will grind them into the ground." Yeeesh, tell that to all those people in all those boats approaching Ellis Island in all those films we've seen all our lives. Go directly to hell, Phyllis. You outlived your "sell by" date decades ago. They're expecting you. You won't even have to fill out any forms. You're in the "elite entry" category.

3. Former (finally!) N.Y. Mayor Michael "Extra Term" Bloomberg

"If I were a woman, I think I would wear high heels."

Well, all righty then, Tootsie. Shoes make the man! I guess you've given it a bit of thought there. So, OK, whatever floats your boat, zeppelin, or -- Still, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has you beat. Can we interest you in some nice kinky boots? Let the whispers begin!

Comedian Andy Borowitz offers this more serious perspective on the "Man of the .1%":

December 31, 2013
PEOPLE WHO CAN STILL AFFORD TO LIVE IN NEW YORK PRAISE BLOOMBERG
Posted by ANDY BOROWITZ


NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) -- As the curtain comes down on the Michael Bloomberg era, the three-term mayor of New York received fulsome praise last night from his most appreciative constituency: the people who can still afford to live there.

Harland Dorrinson, principal owner of the hedge fund Garrote Capital, hosted a black-tie dinner in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pay tribute to a mayor who, in Mr. Dorrinson's words, "put living in New York out of the reach of everyone except the deserving few."

"To a lot of people, Mike Bloomberg will be remembered for reducing smoking and improving people's diets," said Mr. Dorrinson. "But that shouldn't overshadow his greatest accomplishment, creating unaffordable housing throughout New York."

"When Mike took office, this city was teeming with regular working people," Mr. Dorrinson said, shuddering at the memory. "Today, it's a magnificent tapestry of investment bankers, real-estate developers, and Russian oligarchs."

The hedge-fund owner is such a fan of Mr. Bloomberg's, in fact, that he has only one bone to pick with him: that he left office too soon "to finish the job."

"There are still a few pockets in the city where, regrettably, the middle class seems to be hanging on," he said. "The rent is too damn low."

As for Mr. Bloomberg's critics, Mr. Dorrinson was philosophical: "I know there are some people who think Mike was terrible for New York, that he took a city rich with diversity and ruined it. But fortunately, they all live somewhere else now."

"QUOTE OF THE YEAR" 2013 --
AND THE WINNER IS:

When it came to the nominees this year, I deliberately made an attempt to avoid the usual list of miscreants such as Bachmann, Newtie, Palin, Bortz, Cavuto, Savage, et al. At the very least, I wanted to introduce some of the lesser-known personalities that Republicans proudly point to. Known and unknown, all were worthy.

Not a day goes by when some Republican somewhere in our country doesn't unfurl their lunacy freak flag and let it fly with a verbal barrage of hypocrisy, bigotry, homophobia, stories about their ancestors (and ours) riding to work on dinosaurs, phony Obama scandals, and of course the always-imminent return of their white, white, white Jesus -- a Jesus who would never pal around with the likes of them.

I selected many quotes, including ones that were embedded in the stories I included in the "Janitor of Lunacy" posts. Bill-O's gay paranoia quote from Part 5, Judge Edith James's blatant racism in Part 4, Coultergeist's shutdown quote in Part 3, and so many others reflected the core thoughts and qualifications for being a Republican.

But in choosing this year's winner, I found one quote that summed up the essence of being a Republican: a sociopathic willful disregard for other human beings. From Part 5, it's Fox's John Stossel!


"Think about the Depression. That was before there was any welfare state at all. How many people starved? No one."

NOAH'S 2013 IN REVIEW --
A PRAYER TO THE JANITOR OF LUNACY*

Part 1: Take a bow, Repugs! (*including Nico's "Janitor of Lunacy") [Monday]

Part 2: Remember when Reagan cut funds for insane asylums? (Storms, guns, bombs, free stuff, and the secret gay life of Obma: Some top Republican lies of 2013) [Tuesday]

Part 3: No Cruz control (Rafael "Ted" Cruz in his own words) [Wednesday]

Part 4: A great anniversary approaches! (plus more "Quote of the Year" nominees) [Thursday]

Part 5: Everyone's a critic, including me -- Some people really try my patience (Bill-O, Howie Kurtz, E. W. Jackson, et al.) [Friday]

Part 6 (and last): In the words of Dan Quayle, "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" (Exploiting tragedy for a buck; Miss America's not American?; "Quote of the Year" winner) [Saturday]

And don't forget Noah's recent --
"Need a last-minute Christmas gift suggestion?" [12/22]
"50 Years Ago Today: The Beatles" [12/26]
"A Tale of Two Popes -- the one in the Vatican and the one in North Carolina" [12/27]

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Chunks of NYC infrastructure continue to return to service, but the Statue of Liberty -- though relit -- remains a distant prospect

by Ken

Here in the Big Apple, while a lot of people have suffered personal and property loss beyond recovery and a lot of people are still suffering "temporary" hardship like power loss, more and more pieces of the metropolitan area are being gradually restored to something like normal function.

This morning, for example, I was able to take the no. 1 Broadway local train, which begins way up in the Bronx at the southern end of Van Cortlandt Park and then runs all the way down the West Side of Manhattan to South Ferry, all the way from my home stop, 190 Street, to my work stop, Rector Street, the next-to-last stop on the line. Until yesterday, no. 1 service had only gone as far as Chambers Street, the next stop up the line.

The relatively new South Ferry station (above) -- a huge upgrade over the tiny old one, which opened in 2009 -- was totally flooded and apparently requires a major overhaul of its electrical facilities. HuffPost published a video and slide show of photos from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority [MTA].) As far as I know, there isn't even a target date for its return to service.

This is actually a longer distance than it might seem, because there used to be another stop between Chambers and Rector Streets. The IRT Cortlandt Street station, which actually ran under the World Trade Center site, was destroyed on 9/11. (The BMT Cortland Street station a short block to the east was also heavily damaged, but in time the northbound platform was reopened, and eventually the southbound platform was rebuilt.)

Ever since my coworkers were able to get back in our building -- the Sunday following the storm, as I've mentioned -- I've been within fairly easy walking distance of Battery Park and the rest of the flat, barely-above-sea-level bottom edge of Manhattan, which was all underwater from the record storm surge. Somehow, though, I haven't felt like making the walk just to see what there is to see.

The flooded Holland Tunnel to New Jersey finally reopened last week, and just today NYS Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that what most everyone still calls the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (even though just this past October 22 it was formally renamed the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, for the former NYS governor, 1975-82), announced that the east tube, which normally carries Manhattan-bound traffic, has reopened for rush hours only, reversing directions, with one lane for buses and one for cars.

The AP notes that this tunnel, which "was among the most damaged by the storm surge and has been a nagging problem even as other tunnels and subway lines opened," has been "used repeatedly" by Gov. Andrew Cuomo "as an example of the severity of the storm." According to the MTA, "more than a mile of the tunnel's 9,000-foot length" was "flooded with millions of gallons of corrosive, debris-laden seawater, causing wide-ranging damage to the tunnel's electrical, lighting, communications, surveillance and ventilation systems." The normally Brooklyn-bound west tube remains closed for continuing repairs, with "no timetable for resuming traffic."

Here, a few short blocks west of my office in the Financial District, is the West Street entrance to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (still known to most of us as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn) as it looked not long after the storm. NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that the east tube will open during rush hours, alternating directions, one line for buses and one for cars.

These are highly visible pieces of the metro-area infrastructure that are crucial to the movement of large numbers of New Yorkers. So much of the city was shut down that we keep hearing about parts that at least some of us haven't been paying attention to. It was only this morning, when I read the following post by Mai Armstrong for the Working Harbor Committee blog, that I realized I hadn't heard or read much about one of the area's most celebrated landmarks.

Statue of Liberty Closed Indefinitely

by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
November 13, 2012

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island have been closed since Oct. 29 and will remain closed until further notice. The National Park Service expects to know within a month the total cost and time it will take to repair storm damage. Until then, officials can’t even speculate when Liberty and Ellis Islands will be able to reopen to visitors.

Although the statue itself was not damaged by the storm, Liberty Island suffered significant damage to its infrastructure. Bricks were ripped up from pavements and Liberty Island’s dock, where tourists arrive by ferry may need to be rebuilt completely.

From Reuters: [Nov. 12, "Statue of Liberty storm damage will take month to assess"]

“The walkway just got lifted off the pilings and shifted off its support,” Litterst [a National Park Service spokesman] said. “We may be able to repair the dock if it’s still structurally sound, but if not it will have to be replaced, and that’s a longer process.”

The Statue of Liberty had just completed an extensive $30-million renovation project that closed her crown to visitors for a year. Her long-awaited re-opening lasted for just six hours before Sandy crashed into New York Harbor.

Damage to her flood-water soaked mechanical systems had laid the iconic structure dark until last Friday when Lady Liberty was illuminated for the first time since the massive storm thanks to the generosity of two NJ companies –Musco Lighting and Natoli Construction.

From the NYDaily News [Nov. 10, "Statue of Liberty illuminated for first time since Sandy"]:

The iconic monument will remain aglow with the help of generators and equipment donated by two private companies. The statue’s torch and crown are being illuminated by Natoli Construction, the contractor who had worked on a recent renovation project. Musco Lighting, a company that specializes in lighting stadiums and arenas, has donated the goods to light the monument.

[Onsite there's a night photo of the illuminated statue.]

Ellis Island remains in the dark, but thankfully according to museum officials, there is little or no damage to the curatorial and archival collections stored in the Immigration Building.

And, oh yes, I see that "Bellevue Hospital Won't Fully Reopen Until February."

#

Immigration debate? Huh? Has there been an immigration debate going on? (Um, has anybody broken the news to poor old Emma Lazarus?)

The Staten Island Ferry chugs past Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
--from "The New Colossus," by Emma Lazarus

I was writing to a friend on another subject entirely, and in the course of my rambling, I had to dig out these famous--or perhaps once-famous?--lines by Emma Lazarus.

I haven't been to the Statue of Liberty since I-don't-know-when, but I see it semi-frequently.

Sometimes I venture down to the Battery, the lower tip of Manhattan Island, just to look out on New York Harbor. When you look out on the harbor, the eye is drawn quickly to the Statue.

A few times a year it's not enough for me to look out on the harbor, I have to get out on it. So I take my version of an ocean voyage: the Staten Island Ferry trip to Staten Island and back, which gives you a sort of drive-by of the Statue. (The trip also suits my budgetary preferences. You used to pay a quarter in one direction only. Now it's totally free.)

A bunch of years ago, after the renovated Ellis Island reception hall was opened to the public, I took the ferry there. The same ferry made a circuit of Ellis and Liberty Islands, but I hadn't left myself that much time, and chose to spend it all on Ellis. I have to confess that what resonated most vividly for me was the episode of the difficult arrival of little Vito Andolini (about to become Vito Corleone) from Sicily in Godfather II.

Nevertheless, I don't have to visit the Statue to think of its famous poetic inscription. I admit that I looked it up to be sure I had it right, but I would have come pretty close if I'd quoted it from memory.

But then, looking at the words on-screen in front of me, I suddenly realized that I can explain why I feel so isolated from what has recently passed for a "debate" on immigration: I haven't heard anybody quote these lines.

We do all know that we Americans are all immigrants here, don't we? I suppose you could argue, based on the submoronic ignorance of Tom Tancredo and the other anti-immigration loonies, that the immigration thing hasn't worked out as well as we like to pretend. Some of the "wretched refuse" still sounds pretty wretched.

As a point of curiosity, does anyone know whether Twitty Tom and the other hate-spewing xenophobes have ever visited the Statue of Liberty? Or ever heard of the Statue of Liberty? For that matter, the proponents of the supposed immigration "reform" bill don't seem to get it either. They seem mostly interested in immigrants as a ready source of cheap labor--a far cry from the promise and hope of the Statue of Liberty.

It used to stand for something. It used to stand for, you know, the idea of America. If somebody wants to talk about that, give me a holler.