Motley Moose – Archive

A few months ago, I moved to a part of the county that has several lakes. There are three lakes within a quarter-mile of the house. The whole area is beautiful. The lakes have abundant fish and waterfowl and the woods and fields are full of wildlife. It is a photographer’s paradise.

Two of the lakes, which are separated by nothing more than a two-lane road, are home to a pair of beautiful trumpeter swans. These birds are the largest flying birds in the world. The males can weigh over thirty pounds and have a wingspan of seven feet. They were nearly wiped out in the Lower Forty-eight states by the middle of the 20th Century. Seeing a wild pair in Michigan is still a thrill for someone who loves wildlife.

The beauty of this area seems to have given a boost to my creative urges. Since I’ve moved here, I have been taking more photographs, working on some drawings, and creating concepts for paintings. It was only natural that I would want to photograph these majestic birds.

Photography has been a passion of mine since before I reached puberty. I long ago passed the point of taking pictures for the sake of taking them. If the light or weather aren’t right then I don’t even bother picking up my camera. That held true for the swans, as well.

Once I decided to take a picture of the swans, I kept waiting for the perfect moment. Some days I would wait too long and the light would be gone. Other days, the wind was blowing too strong or the sky was too bland and gray. This went on for awhile until I realized how close we were to winter weather. The swans would be gone if I waited any longer, so I made a serious effort to be in the right place at the right time.

The effort was complicated by the fact that my camera tripod had gotten misplaced during our recent move. This forced me to try for a picture earlier in the day then I would have preferred. In order to get the shot I wanted it would have to be at long telephoto range and in the early evening. The days kept going by without the perfect conditions I desired. Then one day it all came together.

While the progressive movement’s anger is rightly focused on the 64 Democrats who voted for the Stupak abortion amendment, the GOP’s solid support for that amendment was accepted as par for the course. At least, it was until someone dug up a little known embarrassing fact about the Republican National Committee.

It seems the RNC provides health insurance to its employees. That insurance includes coverage for elective abortions. This was unknown to outsiders until Politico broke the story on Thursday.

Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna, and two sales agents for the company said that the RNC’s policy covers elective abortion.

As of Thursday, the RNC’s plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party’s own platform calls “a fundamental assault on innocent human life.”

Well, golly gee. Color me surprised.

Of course, the RNC was quick to react to the embarrassing news story.

Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told POLITICO earlier Thursday that the policy pre-dates the tenure of current RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

Okay, Steele only recently became chairman of the RNC, so this could have happened last year. Just how long has the RNC been covering abortions?

“The current policy has been in effect since 1991, and we are taking steps to address the issue,” Gitcho said.

Oops, again. Kind of slow on the uptake there, guys.

So the RNC, who is staunchly anti-abortion, has been offering abortion coverage for 18 years and are just now going to do something about it, yet they are complaining because President Obama is taking a reasonable amount of time before committing more troops to Afghanistan.

Can we get a great big shoutout for the RNC? Something like, “YOU HYPOCRITES FAIL, ONCE AGAIN!!!

A recent Paul Krugman column titled “Right-wing paranoia getting out of hand” has outraged wingnuts. It is doubtful this surprises anyone since wingnuttery outrage is the norm rather than the exception. The sad reality is that their outrage is usually misplaced.

A recent example of misplaced outrage was the absolutely over-the-top reaction to the announcement that President Obama planned on addressing students on the first day of school. The fact that other presidents have done the same meant nothing to the outraged Teabaggers. So what if St. Reagan did the same and made it into a political speech? That is certainly different than a black Muslim president who has an interest in education giving a speech to students.

We’ve all had those moments when something finally becomes clear. I had one of those tonight while reading a NY Times article about the Obamas’ marriage. I’ve only read a couple of pages. It’s pretty good, so far. But, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.

One of my many blind spots is caused by my being who and what I am – a middle-aged nearly-senior, middle-aged, white male. That blind spot makes it hard to see what all of the fuss is about when it comes to the whole gender bias issue.

That’s not to say that I don’t get gender bias. I know it is a male dominated world. I also know that automatically creates gender bias in many situations. I say I know, but what I really mean is that I know in a very hazy, never-happened-to-me kind of way. That may be why I missed the significance of what played out recently over the President’s choice of golfing and basketball partners.

When that story first hit the news cycle, I read a couple of articles about it and read a few comments and then tuned it out. As far as I was concerned, it was way over-blown.

That’s the last I thought about it until a few minutes ago when I read this sentence in that NY Times article I mentioned – “This summer, the first lady surprised her husband for his birthday by gathering his old basketball buddies for a weekend at Camp David.”

Reading that reminded me of golfing-gate (sorry, couldn’t resist). My first thought was a rather sardonic, “Guess they’ll blame that one on Michelle.”

My second thought was a more serious, “What was that all about?”

When first confronted with a complaint like this, most guys will react the same way I did. Something along the lines of, “What’s all the fuss about?” Very few sports are co-ed at any level. Boys play with and against other boys. Girls play against girls. There are a few girls who play on varsity boys’ teams, but the vast majority of boys and girls play on single-sex teams once they are out of grade school. Men and women don’t play against each other at a college or professional level. Why should the White House be any different?

That’s when it dawned on me that there is one very good reason why it matters.

The biggest obstacle women face on a professional level is the old boy network. Events like a basketball game or a golf outing give the participants a feeling of camaraderie. The President is going to look a little more fondly on the person who set him up for the winning shot than he is going to look at a person who he only sees during working hours.

Each person the President spends time with in some enjoyable pursuit is going to have an easier time selling his/her ideas. If my boss is asking for my opinion on something then I’d sure like to have him thinking of that putt I dropped yesterday to seal the win for our team.

There’s also the matter of status. Those who play sports with the President are part of a special group. They get to have a closer relationship with the President. That kind of sucks if you happen to be a woman and women never get invited.

That is enough to convince me that this wasn’t such a silly story, after all. I’m glad the story came out and I’m glad the White House acted on it. Women are the majority in this country. They are a larger majority of Democratic voters. We need more women involved in all levels of government. Practices like the ones that led to this story only serve to perpetuate the old boy network.

Now back to that ten-page article.

No, you won’t learn about Mayan calendars or solar maxima in this post. This is about a different event in 2012. November 6, 2012, to be more exact. That’s still a ways off, but I thought I’d pontificate a bit about it now, even though making predictions about details this far ahead would be kind of silly.

We don’t know who the GOP will put forward. It could be any of 4-5. It might even be a dark horse candidate. Maybe Sarah will go rogue and run as the Conservative Party candidate. Please, please, please…

It would be safer to make the prediction that President Obama will be the Democratic candidate, although that is not a sure thing. Sitting presidents have faced primary challenges in the past. It all depends on events, some President Obama has no control over.

I will make one prediction. And, it comes with conditionals. If the economy improves and most people believe it has improved, if we start withdrawing troops from Iraq, if Afghanistan or Pakistan don’t go too badly, and if there is no terrorist attack on the United States, then President Obama will be re-elected in a landslide. There’s a flaw in that reasoning, but I’d rather leave other possibilities unsaid.

Now, on the other hand, if those things all go badly President Obama may not be the Democratic candidate in 2012. If they go really badly we might even end up with a Republican president.

Some of you may be surprised by the omission of health care reform on that list. The way I see it, the only way health care might negatively affect the President in 2012 is if reform passes and people don’t like it. That may be why so much of it doesn’t kick in until 2013. I think the Democrats will be hurt at the polls in 2010 if they don’t pass something. I don’t think people will hold that failure against the President in 2012. Especially if he can convince people that it was Congress’ failure and he can do it during his second term.

My hope is that health care reform is signed into law before the end of this year. I also hope that both wars go well, the economy continues to improve, and there is no terrorist attack. That sounds like a good letter to write to Santa. I wonder if I could text it to him?

What prompted this line of thought was an election map of the 1952 election. Ike kicked Adlai Stevenson’s butt that year. When I saw it, I thought to myself that 2012 could turn out to be just the opposite of that map. Take a look for yourself.

The procession had finally reached its goal.

Ayda, the bride, and her new husband

turned to say good bye to their escort.

Almost every able-bodied resident

of Ayda’s village had made the ten-mile trip.

It was the biggest procession in fifty years.

Her father had a huge smile on his face.

Her mother was just as pleased.

It had turned out to be a glorious May day.

The most beautiful day all spring

Ayda was ecstatic.

The ceremony was perfect.

The whole village attended.

Even some of the boys

who had joined the fighters

returned to celebrate with their clan.

Ayda was amazed that so many people

would walk all that way

to wish the newlyweds a good wedding.

And yet, here they were,

with the return trip still ahead,

shouting out their good wishes.

Some of the young men added to the din

by firing their guns into the air.

Dawud was puffed up with pride.

He had just married the most

desirable woman in the next village.

His parents were pleased.

The envy on the other men’s faces

was proof of his success.

Life was good.

He beamed at the crowd.

That’s when the first bomb hit.

Three more followed in quick succession.

When the dust settled,

the roadway was a mass of bleeding,

moaning, crying, screaming,

and silent humanity.

The wedding present came with a signed card.

It read, “Mr & Mrs Taxpayer – Heartland, U.S.A.”

The Great Spirit gave seeds of corn to his people. At harvest time, he returned to see what they had done with the corn. There was nothing to see. The people told him that no corn had been planted. When asked why they said they were afraid the birds would eat some.

The Great Spirit asked them what they had done with the corn. He was led to a covered storage pit. The people pulled back the cover to show the Great Spirit the golden kernels of treasure he had given them. His wrath ws great when He saw that rot had ruined it all.

The people protested that they had only been trying to protect what they had been given. They were afraid to lose any of it. Their pleas for understanding went in vain.

The Great Spirit looked on them and said, “How do you know I didn’t give you the corn to see that the birds would be fed? Did you think this great treasure was only for you? If you had planted the corn then both you and the birds would have been feed. So would have been the deer and the squirrel. Your fear and your covetousness has lost you the chance to have corn. From this day forth, the birds and animals will be fed thistle seed. Everywhere you plant crops a thistle will grow.”

Thirty Democratic senators sent a letter in support of the public option to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. If you support the public option, please read the letter ane the list of senators who have signed it then email your senator if you don’t find his or her name on the list.

I didn’t see Carl Levin’s name on the list so I sent him the following email.

Senator Levin,

Thirty senators signed a letter to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid today in support of the public option in the current health care reform efforts. You name was not one of those who signed the letter. Could you explain why you don’t support this effort?

Respectively,

John R. Allen

Letter and list of senators after the jump.

WTF! Do these idiots realize what they’ll get if their wish is granted? For Obama to fail means the economy must stay bad, or the wars go badly in Afghanistan or Iraq,  or Iran gets the bomb, or another terrorist attack takes place in the U.S., or…

Why do they hate America?

Sorry. Had to rant. Teh crazy gets harder and harder to take every day.

It is a dream. I recognize that right away. I’ve never been in the room before, nor do I recognize the doctor at my side or the gaunt, sickly child who lies in the hospital bed before us.

I ask, “Is there anything…?”