Motley Moose – Archive

While in Asheville, North Carolina this past Monday I saw a free publication I couldn’t avoid.  The Asheville Tribune is published by The Tribune Papers, an ultra-right-wing political publication dedicated to the fall of the United States.  On its cover it showed a bus that has been travelling around, hosting John Locke Society speakers and explaining how President Obama and the Liberals will be coming to kill your grandparents – and not simply because their proposals will fail but because “They want to ration healthcare.”  

The implication of an Orwellian plan to execute the old is left hanging in the air only long enough to be picked up again and smashed repeatedly onto the heads of the “hundreds of people” who have been coming to see this Magic Mystery Tour.

But this newspaper is even more special.  It’s for Conservatives promoting the death of America.  Now them’s some real patriots!

My local 9/12 group is fraying under the need to keep up the level of generic outrage displayed at town halls in recent weeks.  I know from observation that all the people below generally agree politically, but the desire by some to sustain the level of hysteria Glen Beck is promoting at all times and in all public places is more than the calmer members can take.

As I have mentioned earlier, I have been reassured to hear some calm voices of reason among the heated discussions.  I share some of the fundamental concerns that this and other groups are in theory advocating for and it has been good to see that there are people involved who are not simply shouting but actually trying to make some cognizant points.  However, recent evolutions of the discussion indicate that tolerance of dissenting opinions is wearing thin.

If this is the path the group chooses to follow then that itself may be for the best.  This has always been my belief: allow – nay, encourage – those with outrageous views to air them publicly.  More often it is the vocal far Left embarrassing themselves in public – which worked to support the previous administration – now the same thing is happening with the extreme on the Right.

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.

I had the misfortune today of catching an interview with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) on the Neal Boortz radio show.  In a display of knuckle-dragging impolitic diatribe Sen Inhofe accused President Obama of intentionally setting out to destroy America and eagerly agreed with the host that Obama lacks the courage to authorize a rescue of pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, currently being held captive in Afghanistan.

Once again I find myself appalled at what is passing for political discourse from Republican politicians.  Not: “I disagree with the policies of the President”, but rather: [sic]”I think the President is doing all he can to destroy the country.”

Anchorage Daily News reports that an amorphous blob of unknown biological matter stretching across miles of open ocean is threatening the Alaskan coast. North Slope Borough Planning and Community Services Department officials, joined by the U.S. Coast Guard, flew out to Wainwright to investigate. The agencies found “globs” of the stuff floating miles offshore Friday and collected samples for testing.

One state official, on condition of anonymity, noted that there have yet to be any sightings of the blob and Sarah Palin in the same place at the same time.  “I’m not suggesting that there is any connection between the two – like a Secret Identity of anything”, the well-connected source was heard to comment, “I’m just sayin’.”

Michael Steele and the GOP sent me another survey today.  This time asking for my opinions about the state of healthcare in America.  As anyone who has read my thoughts on the topic would know, I am a hesitant supporter of reform and am generally fraught with concern about the implications of any solution to the current dilemma, so I am precisely the kind of moderate voter that the GOP should be trying to win over to its side on this issue.

Let’s see how well they do.

Today Roland Burrs (D-Ill) announced that he was not going to run for re-election to the Senate seat which was “given” to him by Rod “Pay to Play” Blagojevich.  CNN showed the press conference live until their Neilsen ratings plummeted into negative number-space and quickly switched to a canned video of a sloth sleeping in a tree out of simple corporate self-preservation.

On the tenth anniversary of the 1999 student uprising against the theocratic regime in Iran, protesters take to the streets again.

From Twitter:

Today the ppl fought back and the basij blinked and ran. We have reached a turning point.

i could see on the eyes of some police men, they wanted to join us, but someothers couldn’t even speak farsi

Michael Jackson was laid to rest today, in a process  that would only make sense for kings, queens and someone quite possibly more widely known than any royalty who ever lived.  In between other things throughout the day I variously listened and watched the procession and the memorial and have caught other pieces repeated later (Stevie Wonder is singing now, for example).  

It is an interesting and unique opportunity to consider the impact of entertainment on the human condition, on the value of exporting culture through entertainment.  To consider the good that wealth can make possible (Michael’s financial success allowed him to support more charities than any other pop star), and the burden of childhood fame.

At the end of the day, it took a child – a daughter – to bring it down to the human level.  In a moment already criticized by some, Paris Jackson told us she loved her father.  I don’t pretend to know what is best for a young lady in a position like hers – I doubt there are many precedents to look to – but in the context of her life I will simply say that I admire her for speaking up for her father, and I will leave it there.