Motley Moose – Archive

From The Raw Story this morning comes this gem:

As if Americans needed any more reminders of how closely aligned with the Republican party the Fox News network is, New Year’s Eve brings us this new tidbit.

During it’s broadcast from New York City, the network encouraged viewers to send in text messages which, if approved by moderators, would scroll across the Fox ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Moderators, however, let this one slip: “HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LET’S HOPE THE MAGIC NEGRO DOES A GOOD JOB. LOVE JEN AND JOHN C.”

I realize that it was a viewer comment that “slipped by” a moderator, but still… c’mon, guys. Way to perpetuate your own stereotype!

And hopefully you have a better time with Santa than my beautiful baby girl did!

I just wanted to pass on, to all of you who have joined our community here at the Moose, how thankful I am to have you guys here. This is truly a community, as tight-knit and firm a bond as any. Amazing, in this day and age, with the anonymity of the Internet and the distances separating us, that a group of people could come together the way we have. In that light, I’d like to share a prayer.

Heavenly Father,

In your name we pray. Amen.

Wherever you are this Christmas, and whatever you’re doing, God Bless you all- have a wonderful day

Hey, guys? Remember that $700 billion dollar bailout? Turns out our President, once again, is looking out for the interests of the people who are really hard up in this situation.

Yep, you guessed it. He threw in a provision to ensure executive pay was kept intact.

Turns out you only get executive pay penalized if you sold troubled assets to the government… but instead, if the government just hands you a blank check, you’re good to go.

Wow. After all these years, I couldn’t have even fathomed something like this. I’d love to hear a Republican apologist explain this one. Sorry for the short diary… this just boggles my mind.

From the article:

“Michele Davis, spokeswoman for the Treasury […] would not say when the guidance would be issued or what penalties it might impose…”

In other words, expect close to nothing.

“But she said the companies promised to follow the rules in contracts with the department.”

Where’s an image of Nelson from The Simpsons when you need one?

And anyway, with no friggin’ legislation in place at the time a contract is signed, precisely what do you believe the odds would be, to successfully prosecute anyone?

I think this picture is in order here.

PastorDan at StreetProphets notices this story from Franklin, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee:

Faith Presbyterian becomes the third satellite prayer center for area Muslims who wish to pray communally but may not be able to get across town to one of the four area mosques. The other prayer sites are at Waukesha Memorial Hospital and the Muslim Student Center on Milwaukee’s east side.

“We’re very grateful to the church,” said Ajaz Qhavi, a Franklin physician and Muslim who worked with church officials on behalf of the Islamic Center of Milwaukee.

Faith Presbyterian’s pastor, the Rev. Deb Bergeson-Graham, welcomed the visitors as an opportunity for her congregation to live their Christian faith.

“I think we’re doing this, not because of what they believe, but because of what we believe,” said Bergeson-Graham. “It’s what Christ would have us do.”

These examples are very important in this day and age. The Republican party has co-opted an extremist message of what Christianity represents- or, perhaps, that extreme wing of Christianity has co-opted them- so we need to take every opportunity to remind them exactly who are the ones truly representing the example of a man who got nailed to a tree for saying how great it’d be if everyone was nice to each other for a change.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and a hearty blessing to you and your family this day. We have many things to give thanks for today- go share them with your family and friends.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a short prayer with you:

Almighty God, we thank you for our good fortune with full and grateful hearts. We thank you for our family and friends; we thank you for this community we’ve built and share. We ask your blessing this day, and to watch over us, especially in these troubling times; to keep us, our friends, our family, our country on the path to righteousness; for those suffering from discrimination in California; for our boys and girls overseas who can’t share this day with their families; for President-Elect Obama, to help keep his judgment clear and sound, to lead us through the specter of darkness from the last eight years. In your name we pray; Amen.

Thanks for our community, guys. God Bless, and have a great day.

Now, this is change I can believe in:

WE HEAR…THAT although we didn’t think it would be possible to silence Ann Coulter, the leggy reaction- ary broke her jaw and the mouth that roared has been wired shut…

Sadly, it won’t prevent her from talking out of her ass.

I suppose it had to happen eventually. All the interest groups that think they had a hand in Obama’s win, no matter how significant, are lining up to get the post-election handouts- and aren’t going to be subtle about going after ’em. I mean, I expect it from people like Karl Rove, who today credited himself with Obama’s win. But NOW- the National Organization for Women?

“There’s definitely been a reaction to the few groups that have been named so far,” said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. “I agree with those who are concerned that it would have been nice to see more women.”

And:

“I have been struck by how few women have been mentioned for high-level positions,” said former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin, who worked on the Clinton transition. “It’s still very early, so I don’t want to reach conclusions yet. But the rumors are a flashing yellow light.”

For God’s sake, there’ve been, what? Two appointments to cabinet positions in the Obama administration, and already we’re bellyaching and firing up the manufactured outrage machine?

From across the pond this morning comes a chilling story of the Russo-Georgian conflict this summer- and a realization, if one was needed, on who exactly is in charge of the Russian Republic.

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged “by the balls” – a threat made last summer by Vladimir Putin, according to an account that emerged yesterday from the Élysée Palace.

That’s right, folks- when he wasn’t busy doing this…

… he was demonstrating clearly exactly who is in charge of the Russian Republic- if any evidence was needed. In the process, though, he may just have provided us with one of the few silver linings to the cloud that is the Bush Administration.

From Salon.com comes the word that:

With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an unprecedented “blanket pardon” for people involved in his administration’s brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under Bush.

To be honest, I’m a bit surprised.  

Or so you’d think from listening to them. Amazing the sort of power a man can hold without even having assumed the Presidency! Here’s a couple examples just to spruce up your morning:

– Drudge reject Bretibart goes all Post hoc ergo propter hoc and claims that since stocks are down 1200 points since Obama’s election… it’s almost as though institutional investors don’t believe his ideas will work. Conveniently ignoring the 4600 point slide, of course, since the day Bush took office- no, sir, eight years of failed economic policy, and an economy on which an entire two-thirds of it’s net worth is based on service/consumption industries? Nah. Totally blameless.

– David French at NRO relates a story of his little girl, who cries “Daddy, I heard that Barack Obama wants to bring all the troops home from Iraq, and that we might lose the war.” I understand, however, he left out the part in the article where she also says “Daddy, I also heard that he wants to restore the capital gains tax to pre-1990 levels, and that his universal health care plan is tantamount to socialism.”

Ahh, the next four years are gonna be lots of fun!