Motley Moose – Archive

So it appears that it has been awhile since I graced the welcoming confines of the Motley Moose. Almost a year to be exact, amazing how time flies when you are out trying to win an election 🙂

So in that year what has happened? Well OFA sucked up an awful lot of time until late spring ’12 and then I just needed a break and took the summer off.  Did a lot of bike riding, went over to Maine and did the Lobster Ride and Roll.

Went from that to the operating table to get my rotator cuff repaired. Which pretty much destroyed the rest of my summer 🙂 Don’t ask how I tore my cuff it is too embarrassing.

As soon as Fall rolled around and I could drive a stick again I was back volunteering with OFA, pounding the phones and knocking on doors.

As some of you may remember, for those young enough to still have your short term memory intact, I along with my wife were invited to the White House for a Holiday Reception in December.

Well at long last the most important picture from the event, shaking President Obama hand, arrived in the mail so I felt I could now tell you all how it went.

Let me get this out the way. By sharing this I am gloating! I ain’t going to apologize for it either! 🙂

To say I felt like a giddy 12 year old when this arrived in the mail yesterday would be an understatement! In fact I still do!

Today we had a special election in the Hillsborough 3rd District to replace a Republican NH House rep elected during the 2010 wave. He didn’t know once elected he had to actually show up for work . . . go figure.

Peter Leishman was the Democratic candidate who had served 5 pervious terms in the House. Peter was running against one David Simpson who had massive support from both the state and national Party. In fact both Romney and Perry motivated volunteers to come out for him. I am going to estimate Peter was out spent by a factor of 10 if not higher.

This is a comment turned into a diary in response to a comment:

You make a valid point, but I’m a bit bothered by some of these comments. I hope that the “pony pwogwessives” type comments are not too prevalent here

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I am going to be as honest as I can here. At 63 and having been involved with Democratic politics and liberal activism either as an observer or participant since the late 60s. I was heavily involved in student activism against the Vietnam War. I was involved in the civil rights movement, worked for a women’s right to choose before Roe v Wade. And had a strong belief in gay rights since my days as a theater major and working in theater in the 60s and 70s. When LGBT’s are your close friends you quickly understand they are people deserving of your respect and the same rights.

I am going to tell you what I believe ( please notice this is my opinion and mine alone I do not presume to speak for all progressives let alone all Moose ).

Progressives, liberal, Democrats whatever label you choose to use, are very good at focussing on a single target when out of the White House. We tend not to be very good when we do gain the White House. The circular firing squads start  popping up right after the inauguration.

At the first sign that the Democratic President, I don’t care who it is, isn’t adhering to some progressive ideal the desertions from his or her camp begin and the verbal fist fights start amongst our own. Now some of this comes from the fact the Democrats really are a big tent party. You cannot invite the Hatfields and McCoys to the party and not expect some punches being thrown. I can live with this and I can understand it. What I do not get is the failure by some to look at the big picture. What I do not understand is the epistemic closure that is just as prevalent on the left as it is on the right.

OK as of the first of September my Summer Organizing stint was over with OFA. I have been asked and accepted staying on as a Community Organizer for Western Hillsborough Country here in NH. This means I will do pretty much what I did all summer, but with a bit more authority and some added duties. This also means a raise to three more atta boys and five more thank yous a week. This is a great relief since things were kinda tight at the lower scale of atta boys and thank yous 🙂

So what did I learn this summer? Well first off what people think they know about President Obama’s base and what is actually true may not be one in the same, at least here in NH.

subtitle: Will some ever learn?

Remember the outrage from some quarters on the budget deal Obama negotiated last spring. On how once again he had sold us out. And then a few days pass and some serious folks start running the numbers and what happens oooops. It seems that he actually hadn’t. The Republicans had bought into smoke, mirrors and accounting  tricks. Accounting has never been their strong suit.

So here we are again and this is starting to creep into the saner Democratic/Progressive blogs.

Ok since everyone here knows I work with OFA you know where my loyalties lie. I make no bones about it and no apologies for it. So below I give the deal as outlined by the White House.

Now given that this is the White House’s fact sheet understand that this is their spin in it. You can go find, in numerous places, a more negative spin, like almost any diary at FDL or DKos.

I realize foreign policy and relationships are not top of mind these days. I mean why would they be, but the world moves on even as Congress moves backwards.

So yesterday the Russian Ambassador to NATO meets with Kyle and Kirk. His comment to the Russian press after the meeting:

Foreign Policy

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, met with Kyl and Kirk yesterday in Washington — but they probably won’t be meeting again anytime soon. After the meeting, Rogozin let loose on the senators…”Today in the Senate, I met with Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk. The meeting is very useful because it shows that the alternative to Barack Obama is a collapse of all the programs of cooperation with Russia,” he said. “Today, I had the impression that I was transported in a time machine back several decades, and in front of me sat two monsters of the Cold War, who looked at me not through pupils, but targeting sights.

I realize I haven’t been around all that much, but life and OFA have been a distraction and keeping me busy. I’ve dropped in Kos more than a bit, but dropping in and out there is easier than here. Here, I actually have to spend sometime and give some thought to what writers are saying in their posts. Speaks well of Moosers.

OK onto the subject at hand. THE DEBT CEILING!!!!!! The world coming to end as we know it. Either because we actually default because the Republicans have painted themselves so far into a corner on tax increases that they no longer can escape. Or that “A Grand Bargain” is reached, but in that bargain Obama does the unthinkable and touches the third rail of Medicare and Social Security.

And so it begins the right the Tea Party base is in full rage mode over taxes. The left is full rage mode over entitlements. We have been here before. I’ll leave the Tea Party loons out the rest of this diary