Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

What are we afraid of?

I’m sitting here at work (home office/spare bedroom) looking at Sam and Fran asleep on the bed across the room from me (they are cats in case anyone doesn’t know that) and thought about picking up my Kindle to either see if I needed to take a turn at Words with Friends or to read a book I’ve already read.  (Work is slow right now, what can I say?)

I’ve done a glance around the Internet and I’ve checked all my email accounts (two work and two personal) and I was in a bit of stream of consciousness thought I guess while I thought about picking up the Kindle.

I’m not sure why but I got to thinking about North Carolina and West Virginia (check Google News for the latest insanity the latter is engaged in) and slid over to Ukraine and then on to protests.

And I wondered why don’t we protest more?  I don’t mean “we” as in Moose I mean we as in Americans.

I don’t have any answers and maybe we protest more than I think or maybe the media doesn’t cover them or something.

Then I wondered what would make me get up and out and sacrifice time and/or energy or security for an issue about which I feel strongly.  Am I just content to let someone else take the lead or the risks.  Am I just lazy or insecure or unmotivated?  I’d like to think that there are issues about which I feel really strongly.  The rights of LGBT is definitely one.  I’ve wondered if it was geographical; I live in freakin’ Vermont for Pete’s sake.  By and large the state is moving in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.  Seems almost pointless to protest something unless it is part of a bigger movement … like Moral Mondays.  I do live in a small town where I’d be surprised if at least half weren’t on the more conservative side; it is fairly rural and just seems more like GOPer land than some other areas.  Could be wrong, though.  But the point of that observation is that I wonder if I’d be willing to stick my neck out a bit if my view might be considered unpopular.

There are any number of reasons to be angry … angry enough to be in the streets but we’re not and I’m not sure why.

And as much as it pains me I know why I’m not out there, no matter how many excuses I give myself.  I’m lazy, complacent and happily willing to let someone else take the risks on my behalf.

Not sure what that says about me but it isn’t good.  Now I need to figure out what to do about it.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 14 Comments

14 comments

  1. HappyinVT

    An American anchor for state-owned television network Russia Today resigned on air on Wednesday.

    Liz Wahl, who works in the channel’s Washington, D.C. bureau, said she did not support the way RT covered Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I’m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth, and that is why, after this newscast, I am resigning,” she said.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/l…

  2. princesspat

    From my read around the internets…..

    Josh Marshall, at TPM   Caution

    I’ve read a number of articles and posts over the last twenty-four hours which have crystallized and also shaped my view that we should be approaching the crisis in Ukraine with more caution and deliberation than we currently are. As I wrote at the outset, you have to really squint hard to see Putin and Russia’s current position as one of strength or one in which he’s improved his position over what it was a month ago, a year ago or even five years ago.

    ~snip~

    But again, caution. A lot of people have psychological, ideological and political reasons for exaggerating Russian power. Which means exaggerating the danger and pushing for a more extreme response. We shouldn’t fall into that trap. The last point is the most delicate……

    This was an interesting interview on Last Word yesterday.

    Inside Putin’s Political Machine

    Night Wolves, Tammany Hall, Chris Christie…..a discussion of the use of power with finesse.

  3. JanF

    Dahlia Lithwick rants for me: Guilt by Association  

    Senate blocks Obama’s pick to head the civil rights division because he’s fought for civil rights.

    … so the fact that Adegbile has long been one of the most skilled and principled civil rights attorneys in the country is cast by Senate Republicans as a kind of catastrophic public scam.

    The right-wing smear squad raced to label Adegbile a “cop-killer’s coddler,” or a “pro-criminal cop-killer.” Not unrelatedly, his other sin? Adegbile argued the Voting Rights cases at the Supreme Court, the ones making the radical argument that racial bias still exists in some voting schemes. I guess legal advocacy is just always wrong if it’s done by the NAACP.

    Holder’s DOJ Statement

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