Motley Moose – Archive

Like many of you, I like to watch movies. Even today, there are still a lot of feel-good, old-fashioned hits that make your heart warm. Things like Slumdog Millionaire and National Treasure.

In National Treasure – the sequel, that is – there exists a scene in which the main character kidnaps the president; its necessary to “find the treasure.” It’s one of the scenes I remember, not because it’s particularly memorable or even good, but because of what the scene expresses. The movie respects the president. He’s fundamentally a decent guy or gal who’s going to do the right thing in the end. For that, the president deserves our respect. And in National Treasure, he gets it.

Perhaps a lot of more sophisticated persons might view these sentiments as naive. But I’m sure many viewers of Fox News have the same, old-fashioned beliefs. With regard to George Bush in particular, I’m sure many of them believed that he was decent man trying to do the right thing for our country. Whatever his mistakes, he deserved our respect.

Which is why it so disturbs me to watch Fox News today. The channel’s attitude is consistently disrespectful to our president. Fox commentators are free – are encouraged, in fact – to ridicule and malign the leader of our nation. They operate from the assumption that Barack Obama is not a decent man and that he does not want to do the right thing for the country. They seem to think that our commander-in-chief is an enemy or something, just because he happens to be a Democrat.

That’s bad. It’s bad for the president. It’s bad for our country, because a polarized nation with a paralyzed leader is always in a state of weakness. Think about Iran today. It’s even bad for Fox News and the Republicans, because when they do come up with legitimate criticism – the president’s not going to listen anymore. They’ll have long lost all their credibility.

Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned type of guy, but I think that our president deserves respect.

–Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

For your enjoyment, a few maps of Florida’s presidential elections (taken from the New York Times) are posted below.

Barack Obama beats John McCain, 50.91% to 48.10%. Notice how well he does in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami. On the other hand, John McCain is absolutely dominating the north, where he improved on Bush in a number of smaller counties.

More elections below the fold.

President Barack Obama gave a solid speech last night, carefully explaining his policies and proposing new plans for helping the middle class.

The trouble is that nobody will remember it in a month.

Presidential speeches come in two types: those few that are enduring, and those many that do little more than fill a news cycle. The enduring ones have several things in common: they are generally made in a time of crisis, and they outline themes that constitute a hallmark of the presidency. For instance, in March 1947 President Harry Truman summarized the strategy of containment against the Soviet Union, which would guide U.S. policy for decades to come.

State of the Union addresses almost never fit either condition. One exception was in 2002, when President George W. Bush coined the term “Axis of Evil” – which for better or worse came to symbolize his administration’s policies. But other than that lone exception, not a single address (out of the hundreds given) has made any impression upon history.

Mr. Obama’s speech was not particularly memorable, either. It was not meant to be. The speech focused primarily on domestic issues like jobs and education; stuff like this a great speech does not make. There are probably at least five speeches the president has made which overshadow this one (funny how most of them were written by Obama himself). Indeed, I doubt that half the people at my college even knew that there was the State of the Union address yesterday.

Like last year’s address, this year’s will probably be quickly overshadowed by other news. Its likely that even the most politically passionate can’t recall a word of the 2009 quasi-State of the Union. And as for the 2008 address – most people probably don’t even remember Mr. Bush making it.

–Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

This is the last part of an analysis on the swing state Florida. The previous parts can be found here.

Miami-Dade County

Here is how John Kerry did in south Florida:



Here is how Barack Obama performed:

There is no other place in Florida (and, perhaps, the country) like Miami-Dade. Palm Beach and Broward counties are retiree destinations; Miami is home to immigrants and refugees from all Latin America. More than 60% of the population is Latino – and only 3% of them come from Mexico. The Miami accent is unique compared with the nation. Local government is distinct from other counties in Florida.

More below.

By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Below is a list of what, in my view, the most important to-dos on the president’s lengthy to-do list are.

Of course I could be a smart aleck and just put –

1. THE ECONOMY

2. THE ECONOMY

3. THE ECONOMY

But that would be both unintellectual and too crude a way to make a point. Nevertheless – and quite coincidentally – all of the priorities listed below do link to the economy in some way or other. Here they are:

1. Fix the subprime mess.

2. Reform the banking industry.

3. Cut health care costs.

More analysis below the fold.

This is the fourth part of a series of posts analyzing the swing state Florida. The last part can be found here.



The Miami Metropolis



Diverse, populous, sun-baked – south Florida is far different from the rest of the state. It is the Democratic base, where liberals win their biggest margins.

Like most liberal places in this country, south Florida contains incredibly diversity; ethnic minorities compose a large share of the population. The region as a whole has reached majority-minority status. Blacks, Jews, Latinos ranging from Cubans to Nicaraguans, and many others call south Florida home.

More below.

By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Results are soon pending in the special election to replace Senator Ted Kennedy. Once a guaranteed Democratic victory, the race has become surprisingly competitive due to a bad national environment and a lackluster campaign run by Democrat Martha Coakley. In fact, several polls have put Republican Scott Brown in the lead, striking panic amongst the Democratic establishment.

Interpreting incomplete results can be difficult if one is not familiar with how different areas in a state vote. Senator John McCain, for instance, led the vote in Virginia during much of election night; this was because deep-red rural Virginia reported first. After Democratic strongholds in Northern Virginia began posting, Barack Obama quickly pulled away (he ultimately won by 6.30%). Because Massachusetts is rarely competitive outside of gubernatorial elections, geographic unfamiliarity probably extends to even most politically active folk.

I have created a map indicating what a tied election would probably look like:

More below.

Republicans have attacked Obama’s health care plan for, amongst other things, creating “death panels.” Democrats, predictably, have responded by calling this a ridiculous scare tactic, something that of course will never happen.

The problem is, however, that the fundamental concept behind this idea has merit. And unfortunately, because of Republican attacks, a good idea may not be implemented.

Here is the viewpoint on “death panels.” Killing old people is a bad idea. So don’t do it. Case closed.

But reality is not that simple. The plain truth is that the enormous cost associated with caring for the elderly is slowly bankrupting our nation and its health care system. The last months of a person’s life incur an enormous and disproportionate amount of spending relative to his or her lifespan. And sometimes – many times – those expenses are simply not justified; unnecessary operations and surgeries simply prolong the pain and delay the inevitable. Unplugging the machine may simply be the right thing to do – both for the nation at large and the person individually.

There is most definitely a chance of abuse and terrible wrong happening with this. There usually is. This idea is not perfect; few ideas are. The point is that it should not be immediately dismissed out of hand.

Today, with the health care plan losing popularity, Democrats are quickly backtracking from end-of-life planning. They have promised to delete the text concerning “death panels.”

That is unfortunate. Excessive end-of-life treatment that does not help is a major part of our skyrocketing health care bill. If we ignore the problem, as Congress seems poised to do, it will not magically get better. Sadly, ignoring the problem increasingly looks like what is going to happen.

–Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Since the late death of Senator Edward Kennedy, his seat has been temporarily filled by former aide Paul Kirk. Things are set to change on January 19th, when the state will hold a special election to replace Mr. Kennedy. Attorney General Martha Coakley is running as the Democratic candidate, against Republican State Senator Scott Brown.

A number of political analysts have labeled this special election as a race-to-watch, to get a measure of the nation’s public mood. Back in the day, this is what presidential primaries were designed to do in the absence of good polling. Today polls have become more reliable, but different pollsters may perceive the electorate differently. And sometimes they still get things wrong. There is nothing like a good-old election to make things clearer.

If, as conservatives claim, Americans are moving back to the Republican column, then Ms. Coakley will win by less than expected for a Massachusetts Democrat. In the absolute worst case scenario, she may even lose altogether. On the other hand, if the election proves a cakewalk for Ms. Coakley – she defeats Mr. Brown by a comfortable margin – Democrats can breathe a sign of relief.

This race contains several complications, some favoring Democrats and some favoring Republicans.

More below.

This is the third part of a series of posts analyzing the swing state Florida. Part four can be found here.

The I-4 Corridor

If there is a holy grail of Florida politics, it is winning the I-4 corridor. This refers to the Interstate 4 highway, which begins in Tampa Bay, travels though Orlando, and ends in Daytona Beach.

Here is the performance of a relatively weak Democrat, John Kerry, in the I-4 corridor:



John Kerry gets absolutely pummeled. There is a sea of red counties. This is the reason why John Kerry lost Florida.

Here is the performance of a stronger Democrat, Barack Obama:

More below.