Motley Moose – Archive

Yeah, I know.  I was the one who said we needed to make sure we didn’t get too fixated on the former VP candidate but…she really needs to STFU.

Four years ago I can say, without cliche, my life changed.

I lived in Ocean Springs, MS at the time, just to the east of Biloxi.  I went to school in Gulfport just to the west of Biloxi.  I traveled US 90 almost on a daily basis.  I knew the area, having lived there twice actually (long story), very well.  Highway 90 follows the Gulf Coast beach.  It is one of only two ways to go East/West along the southern portion of Mississippi.  Don’t take Highway 90 if you’re in a hurry, though.  Oy.  Tourists and stop lights.

We had just started the new semester; I recall that we had one or two days of class.  Of course, we were all trying to figure out which path Katrina would take while making plans to stay in town or bug out.  I had pretty well decided to stay.  Of all the excuses I could come up with none is truer than that I just wanted to know what a hurricane was like.  The sick cat and old car were considerations but merely convenient excuses if the truth is really told.

I sincerely thought that we’d have a couple of days of inconvenience and then everything would be back to normal.  I remember that The Constant Gardener with Ralph Fiennes was due out the following Thursday.  Since I love Mr. Fiennes I was all gung-ho to see that movie.  No, I still haven’t seen it.

I can’t take much more of this.  I really can’t.  As much as I despise George Bush, Dick Cheney, George Tenet, and Donald Rumsfeld for their policies, I truly would never wish (or pray) for their deaths.  I would never sit in a church that prayed for them to die.

But surely, you think, there isn’t a church in this country where such a thing could happen.

Yeah, well…

There seems to be a growing number of Democrats who are willing to use reconciliation to pass meaningful healthcare reform.

Reconciliation is a legislative process that will pass a budget bill without being subject to a filibuster.  The reconciliation process is confusing but, given what I’ve read from various sources, it is possible to use it on several key provisions.  It also means that we do not have to count on conservative Democrats or Joe Lieberman.  I would like to think that the Democratic caucus would follow Sen. Sanders’ call for unity against a filibuster but given some of the rhetoric I am not sure that’s likely.  

The Washington Post has breaking news that Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to name John Durham prosecutor to look into

nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other statutes when they threatened terrorism suspects.

The article continues…

Max, you just now figuring that out?!

I initially planned to write a well-thought-out, detailed piece about Buchenwald.  I printed pages of material and copied some pictures.  I was going to include a map of its location in Germany as well as a map of the camp itself.  I guess you would have called it a history lesson.

In the end, however, I decided that a simple video with a transcript of their own words are enough.  We know what Buchenwald stands for; we’ve seen the terrible pictures, we may have been fortunate (if that’s the right word) to have visited that awful place.

Today, Buchenwald had four special visitors.  President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel were accompanied by camp survivors Bertrand Herz (President of the International Buchenwald Committee) and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

A couple of weeks ago, David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager told the U.S. News and World Report that Utah Governor Jon Huntsman:

makes him, a “wee bit queasy…I think he’s really out there speaking a lot of truth about the direction of the party.” abc4.com

Soon Mr. Plouffe will be calling former Governor Huntsman “Mr. Ambassador.”

I’ve never watched Sesame Street.  Growing up we were booted out of the house if the weather was nice.  I don’t have children so I’ve never had to watch it with them.  (The cats like Animal Planet, especially the dog shows).

Anyway, Michelle went on Sesame Street to promote healthy eating and exercise.

Only it was President Obama laying the smackdown on CNN’s Ed Henry.

In case you missed it the guy masquerading as a reporter for a television station masquerading as a news organization asked a question that included a part about why it took Obama a couple of days to respond to the AIG bonus kerfuffle.  The President answered the other part of the question but Ed, much to his subsequent dismay, refused to let it go.  And, he paid the price.