Motley Moose – Archive

One of the reason I am so resistant to self-identify as an official “Democrat” is how figgen scatterbrained the “base” tends to be.

On balance I agree more with the general Democratic platform than the Republican, but mainly because there is not a viable Socialist party.

So, I consider myself a prgmatist in many ways, especially when viewing how politics work. Setting aside the Lieberman decision by the Democratic caucus today, in letting him keep his Homeland security chairmanship (hell, I think the whole Department of Homeland security notion kind of creepy to start with), there has been a lot of backbiting in Democratic circles about a possible H. Clinton as SoS, and the fact that Obama is drawing on Clinton era appointees to help staff his WH.

To which I say,

I love these guys. They make the work easier.

Sarah Palin = Evita!

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

    – Confucius

I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.

     -Katherine Mansfield

Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.

     -Unknown

It wasn’t that long ago when I was just crying in my bedroom, not knowing what I could do next. Prop 8 had passed in California, and it felt like I was completely stripped of my human rights. Why did everything go so wrong when it seemed like the worst had just ended with Barack Obama’s victory?

But in the next few days, hope returned. Lawsuits were filed to protect people’s rights. People soon took to the streets to protest the temporary “win” for hate. And most importantly, a new civil rights movement was born as people began organizing to show the state, the nation, and the world that love conquers all.

So how has a temporary defeat resulted in a sudden push for victory?

According to the sometimes dubious Guardian, Hillary Clinton will accept Barack Obama’s offer to become the United States’ 67th Secretary of State.  The article’s extremely light on details, but if this is true we’ll see more information emerge pretty quickly.

Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Obama’s advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton’s foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.

But that’s what I love about him!

I knew the title would get your attention.

Just playing of this :

“The sense among the no-drama Obama world is: This is well on its way to winning best Oscar for drama,” said one well-connected Democratic official.

No, I’m not agreeing with the quote, I’m just giving you a feel of what’s out there.

Ok. Seriously now.

The vetting process has begun!

I’m sure you all have read the latest “reasons” being given by “anonymous” leaks about why Hillary might not get the SoS nod.

The main sticking point is Bill. I love Bill. I’m pretty sure I’ve been clear about that all year.

Although I wouldn’t go as far as this “well connected D official”–

it’s not Clinton hate(or CDS or whatever) to say that the Obama team has a point here.

The potential for conflicts of interest are huge.

HUGE!

Politico has a good wrap up.

(emphasis mine)

But it could prove problematic for Obama if the former president continues to seek donations from foreign countries at the same time that his wife, as secretary of state, is asking them for diplomatic concessions. The Clinton Global initiative, which has raised more than $30 billion since 2005, has solicited major donations from a handful of foreign governments, including a $1 billion pledge from Norway in 2007.

snip

The former president was in was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Kuwait City over the past four days and returned to the United States on Monday morning.

Heh.

He’s in Kuwait City.

Kind of ironic.

But the fact that Hillary is being seriously considered and looks like a frontrunner proves how serious Barack is about having her in his cabinet.

It means the Obama team is willing to give Hillary the spot if they recieve reassurance from the Clintons that his philantropic work will not pose a conflict of interest.

I believe this to be a very reasonable request.

“I doubt that they are looking for an excuse to pick someone else,” a neutral Democratic official said, “but rather are genuinely concerned that Bill Clinton’s work, while worthy, would be greatly complicating if she were SecState.”

Acting like the Clintons should not be vetted, when the Clinton themselves are actively cooperating with the vetting process is kind of missing the point here. As experienced politicians they know what’s at stake here and the importance of the procedure for such a high profile job.

I’m hopeful they will all come to a mutual understanding

Isn’t that what people with the same common goal want?

The ball is very much in her court, but the president’s finances have been a major point of sensitivity from Day One,” the well-connected Democratic official explained.

What really make me think this will be a done deal is these words by William Jefferson Clinton himself.

“If he decided to ask her and they did it together, I think she’ll be really great as a secretary of state. … She worked very hard for his election after the primary fight with him, and so did I, and we were very glad that he won and we have a lot of confidence that he can do a good job. But she didn’t do what she did with the hope or expectation of getting any kind of job offer, much less having this discussed.”

He obviously wants her to take the job and I’m pretty sure he’ll sacrifice any reasonable requests to help her achieve that goal.

Don’t think I need to put a disclaimer on the Moose, but just in case.

I’m being respectful of the Clintons so I respect people to be respectful of my opinion on this.

What’s your take on it?

In case anyone was jonesing for a some homophobia and well, douchiness in general should be sure to check out last Thursday’s O’Reilly Factor.  In it, O’Reilly does a segment on the protests in California over Prop. 8 and really does not disappoint in reaffirming that he is a number one ignoramus.

O’REILLY: So you can see the debate over gay marriage is now a full fledged national battle. As talking points said last night the election of Barack Obama has emboldened secular progressives who feel it is their time. Gay marriage is just the beginning. Other cultural war issues will also be in display very shortly. These include limiting gun possession, legalizing narcotics, unrestricted abortion and the revocation of the Patriot Act.

(Crossposted at MyDD where most of you probably already read it)

It’s been a week since I returned to my adoptive homeland. The Flight from JFK ro Fiumincino was suprisingly smooth…or maybe I was just still so stunned and excited to notice turbulence. I teared up only once…on takeoff when flying over Long Island and Connecticut. I was listening to my IPod as soon as I was allowed to. I kept playing one song over and over again;

“Jump” by Madonna.

The song has come to define my own personal struggle post college from job hunting to family situations to my decision to throw caution to the wind and move to Rome with my cousins.

I also used it to pump me up during the campaign. When I first started knocking on doors in Loudoun County in an office full of campaign workers who, at the time of my arrival, were still skeptical of victory in the wake of Palinmania.

The television program “Boston Legal” tackled the issue of abortion and achieved a more balanced and nuanced discussion of this incredibly complex issue than any I have heard on the topic in quite some time.  It was the kind of complex presentation of the information on an issue that is necessary if we are going to make progress in considering the difficult and multifaceted issues that require our attention.

I would like to believe that the blogosphere can provide forums to treat issues as contentious as abortion with the thoughtfulness needed.