Motley Moose – Archive

Iran has no interest in compromise

Top ten things you didn’t know about Iran

It would appear that the President is having a pretty good week. From Salon.com today

Friday, Sept. 11, 2009 13:01 EDT

Obama, reform get boost from speech

It’s still early, but so far, it looks like President Obama’s address to Congress was, mostly, a winner.

CBS News is out with a poll showing that “Americans now give [Obama] the best marks of his presidency on handling health care, but they’re still divided over whether he’s clearly explained his plan.”

Approval of the president’s handling of the issue has jumped 12 points in a week, from 40 percent to 52 percent. Disapproval has dropped nine points, from 47 percent to 38 percent. (The margin of error was plus or minus four percentage points.)

A CNN poll shows similar trends moving up for the President.

CNN Poll: Double-digit post-speech jump for Obama plan

Posted: September 9th, 2009 11:05 PM ET

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Two out of three Americans who watched President Barack Obama’s health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans – a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll of people who tuned into Obama’s address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress.

This is an excellent start for the fall season.

I was wondering where I was going to put this tube. It seems appropriate here.

Why is it appropriate? Just a new movie called Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore, set to release this October. Here is a snippet.

Jesus. Does Michael want us to have armed rebellion against the wealthy? Hmmmmm. Perhaps we could sic the birther/anti-healthcare/teabagger nuts on Wall Steet…

It occurred to me today how the Obama Administration (and the rest of us), should move the health care debate along this fall. After a long hot season of broiling hot Town Halls, Tea Bagging Parties, and a frightening increase in violent rhetoric, the Democratic Party could effectively turn the summer of 2009 back against the party of no. It is called a backlash and I have begun seeing the seeds of it starting already.

I am suggesting launching an all out assault against the lunatic fringe, insurance companies, and Republicans that have managed to control the issue up until this point. And it should be unleashed upon the American population, just as the fall sporting events heat up and the new television fall line up begins. A few well placed commercials on the season premieres of House and 30 Rock would go a long way.

Most of the commercials could be directed at the moderate middle. Those people who do not pay that much attention to politics, but are being influenced by the vocal minority who have been making such a fuss these past few months.

I normally don’t yell at people to get them to do something they do not want to do. I think persuasion is a better way. However, this is what I have learned to do with people who do not agree with me. As a child protection investigator I had to get involuntary clients to see that their lives were not working out for them. This was often difficult. I did have one distinct advantage though. As I was an CPI, I could initially scare the living shit out of them.

When it is bad enough for me to knock on you door, much less take your children away from you, I believe I have your attention. The choice of what you do about this sort of situation is yours. I can offer suggestions, help guide you on your way, and connect you with the services you may need, but YOU must act. Only YOU can change your world.

In the fall of 1974 when I was ten years old, my family moved to Tehran, Iran. My parents were teachers and wanted to travel, so they signed up with International School Services, a placement service for international schools, and we chose the Tehran American School (TAS).

Prior to moving to Iran, my father was an assistant professor at Denver University, my mother taught 5th grade at North Lakewood Elementary, and we lived in a nice suburban ranch house in Lakewood, Colorado. Mom went ahead of us to find a house and get us settled. She did not have much choice, as my father got sick that summer and had surgery to remove his gall bladder. Mom was very brave.

I remember the flight over was very long. I think it took a day or more with layovers and such. When we deplaned at Mehrabad Airport, I was struck with massive culture shock, as everything was different than anything I had ever seen before. The most shocking thing to me, was the sight of women clad from head to toe in black chadors.

In 1974, the chador was not mandatory and in fact, the Shah was trying to get rid of them. Since 1979, things are different.

I am not sure how long it took to adjust to living in Iran. We had little bits of the States. TAS had over 4.000 students and around 50,000 Americans made Tehran their home. We were very fortunate in that we were stateside hire, meaning we had military privileges such as the commissary and PX (military supplied American shopping goods) and base access. These small benefits made living in Iran easier.  

Ted Kennedy died just a few moments ago. I am deeply saddened by the loss and the passing of this amazing Senator and man.

Sen. Ted Kennedy died shortly before midnight Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 77.

The man known as the “liberal lion of the Senate” had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.

“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” the Kennedy family said in a statement. “He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it.”

He will be missed.

I must preface the following stream of consciousness with a word of warning. I have been a life long card carrying member of the Democratic Party. Just as soon as I could vote I participated in North Dakota politics for the next 10 years by participating in almost every single Democratic State convention and getting involved in many levels of politics.

I am a dyed in the wool Democrat and am (usually) proud to be so.

It would appear that Tom Rigde is telling a few secrets about his tenure in the bush pseudo administration. To my absolute shock and horror (snark), Ridge states that he quit as Director of Homeland Security because he felt the bushies used terror levels to “win” the 2004 election. He said that he was pressured to raise the level after the Democratic Convention and just before the election.

There is more. Chris Matthews discussed it on his show today. Hopefully I can find a clip later and post it.

**Video Update** Not Matthews but KO covered it well enough.

This does not surprise me in the slightest. Can we count the ways that the bushies broke the law?