Motley Moose – Archive

As members of Congress head home for an August recess, Barack Obama’s former campaign arm, Organizing for America (OFA), is gearing up to target Blue Dog districts with old-fashioned, on-the-ground operations.

OFA has been organizing canvasses and phone banks since early spring, but their strategy has changed dramatically during the last couple of weeks, becoming more pointed: they are organizing canvassing drives and phone banks that specifically target the districts of the Blue Dog Democrats who have been reluctant to support Obama’s health care reform. Volunteers are organizing and manning phone banks to call Blue Dogs in other districts or states, and some volunteers are even driving into Blue Dog districts to lend a hand.

(Crossposted from the Huffington Post)

July 30th marked the fortieth day since Neda Soltan was shot while attending a legal public protest in Tehran, Iran.  In Shia Islam the mourning period for a lost loved one ends and culminates on the fortieth day – the “Celleh”.  With respect for the murdered girl and adherence to their religious beliefs, thousands of Iranians went to her grave and to the Grand Mosala prayer complex to pay their respects.

The hoodlums that support the Iranian police-state – operating under a shredding banner of an “Islamic Republic” – contravened the consititution of the country and the beliefs of Islam by attacking the mourners with tear gas, bats and guns.

Many of you have probably heard now about Army Maj. Stefan F. Cook, but just in case, please allow me to tell his story as only this patriotic Navy Blue Wife can do.

As the United States and China wrap up their two-day “Strategic and Economic Dialogue,” it’s more apparent than ever that the two find themselves in a marriage that neither can easily dissolve and that neither fully wants.

(Cross-posted at River Twice Research.)

The speeches struck all the rights notes – “the United States and China share mutual interests,” President Obama announced. “If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit, and the world will be better off – because our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress on many of the most pressing global challenges” Those sentiments were echoed by both Hillary Clinton and Timothy Geithner in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal. The Chinese delegation spoke of the two nations as traveling in the same ship, a ship which was wracked by the global financial storm of the past year. In general, the rhetoric could not have demonstrated more clearly that both see themselves as locked in a relationship of mutual dependence.

Wonkette, I have a sort of love-hate relationship with. Part of that love, was perhaps due to Ana Marie Cox as Editor. I will not deny part of that love was due to the fact that she is a stone cold fox, bright as hell, and the tone she brought to the site was doppel-sessy.

But, since Cox left to pursue other things, the site has continued in the tradition that she set for them.

Recently though, there has been an undercurrent not just of discomfort, but just sheer nastiness that isn’t just Interwebs snark, but just plain mean-spiritedness.

I point to a recent bit on Meghan McCain, as a bellwether for sites to miss larger points in a rush to mock folks as a matter of course.  

On July 24, 2009, President Obama designated July 27 to be National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.  Flags are flying at half-staff around the country in memory of those lost during the Korean War.

President Obama stated in his Proclamation:

Fifty-six years after the signing of the Military Armistice Agreement at Panmunjom, Americans remain grateful for the courage and sacrifice of our Korean War veterans. More than 600,000 United States and allied combatants lost their lives in Korea during the 3 years of bitter warfare that ended on July 27, 1953. Many were also injured, taken as prisoners of war, and missing in action. These dedicated servicemen and women, under the banner of the United Nations, fought to secure the blessings of freedom and democracy on the Korean Peninsula, and they deserve our unending respect and gratitude.

Every day we are reminded of the selfless service of these veterans. The Korean War Veterans Memorial stands in our Nation’s Capital as an enduring tribute to them. Marching among juniper bushes and rows of granite, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen silently remind all who glimpse their faces of the great challenges that so many Americans overcame. The strong partnership between the United States and the Republic of Korea is also a proud testament to our men and women in uniform.

Today we remember and honor the valor of Korean War veterans and the extraordinary sacrifices that they and their families made in the cause of peace.

If you have a chance when you visit the National Mall in Washington, DC, you should visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

To my grandfather, thank you for honoring our country with your service in the Army during the Korean War.

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crossposted at Navy Blue Wife

God bless everyone on this beautiful Sunday morning! I wanted to share some of the virtues of our current health care system with everyone; hopefully, we can avoid the specter of Socialized Health Care the Obama administration has been hanging over our heads.

This week, I got health insurance with my new job- provided by me, and NOT leeching off the Government, thank you. Thankfully, since I have private insurance instead of one of the new “ObamaCare” plans, I didn’t have to change my daughter’s pediatrician, or my family doctor.

Now, while it’s true that the new insurance stipulates I cannot visit the same facility that my old family doctors or in, and that they will not pay for any care received there, and want me to pick from a list of pre-approved doctors to visit instead- at least I’m not being forced to by the Government.

So, what’s on your mind?

No wonder we never win a battle…too many of us are too afraid of losing to ever actually fight.

in recent days, the feeling over on the other blogs, DailyKos for example, is one of whine, defeat, hopelessness…comments like “I’m out of hope” or “there will be no public option, we’ve lost” or “Our majority is gone in 2010 now”

And what pisses me off most is that this type of attitude just plays into the horrible stereotype of the yellow-bellied weak-kneed cowardly liberal (excuse the world) pussy.  

I get out of the gym at the Shepherd University Wellness Center and go downstairs to the Cafe where I get my post-exercise coffee and plop down in front of the lobby television. Today on C-Span 3 they were showing an all Republican Health Care panel, supposedly exposing all the things wrong with the countries that have single-payer (read “socialized medicine”) health plans.

And, of course, the Congress- men and – women were quoting and basing their arguments on stuff from the “highly non-partisan” Lewin Group.

Both Haaretz and YNet are reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the ‘spirit’ of 2002 Saudi peace initiative could promote comprehensive peace in the region.

The initiative, backed by all 22 members of the Arab League, offers Israel full normalization in return for a withdrawal from territory conquered in the 1967 Six Day War, a Palestinian state and an equitable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.