Motley Moose – Archive

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Hiya, Moose!

Welcome to SUMMER!

Thought we could use a new open thread, a couple of articles on BP, and a bit of randomness. Soooooo… I’m sending mail, so give me some action, mooses!

Hey you Moose — WAKE up and SAY something!!!

Sricki is sick and slightly miserable, but this pic still made her laugh.

So what’s on your minds, Moose? My plans for the weekend mostly involve my sofa, hot tea, and ginger ale. How ’bout the rest of ya?

I think this morning is the first quiet time I’ve had to really sit down and think about our achievement on HCR Sunday evening. That night, I was too caught up in the thrill of victory to think about how we got there. Monday night I was out of town chaperoning my kid brother at an eardrum-shattering post-hardcore concert, and afterward, I spent most of Tuesday grappling with the epiphany that I feel much older in the wake of being amidst all those rowdy, loud, carefree kids than I’ve ever felt before… So it wasn’t until this morning that I got a chance to really sit in my home in solitude and quiet and mull over the process and the implications of this accomplishment. I am awash with emotions, and the only thing to which I can liken this feeling is the way I felt in the days and weeks following the 2008 elections. Yet in some ways, for me, this is a more stunning triumph still — I have, after all, been an advocate of health care reform for far longer than I’ve been a supporter of Barack Obama.

But as my mind wanders, the feeling I keep coming back to is gratitude. There are a lot of people to thank — a lot of people who had a hand in the passage of HCR. But the name that stands out foremost is Nancy Pelosi.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has successfully reenergized many among the disillusioned Left, declaring that health care reform is not in fact dead, as some of the more cynical voices among us may have come to fear. At this point, the confusion over what’s going on with HCR has become thoroughly discouraging to many who have spent the last few months (or years) championing the cause. The debate became muddled early on in the midst of GOP outrage and hysteria, and as the process progressed, the Left split along ideological lines. We were having enough trouble when we were largely united, and the growing number of divisions have simply confused the issue further.

And though I personally am fond of the president, I still feel that his lack of leadership on health care has been damaging in the long run, and possibly his largest failing thus far. Mixed and ambiguous messages from the administration about key components of the package like the public option only helped to muddy the debate. The lack of vocal support for progressives in Congress and the eagerness to praise disappointing compromises with conservadems has frustrated the liberal and progressive blogosphere to no end, and understandably so. Some among us, myself included, still believe that the better path to HCR would have been an initial push toward single payer, gradually adjusting and making concessions until we worked our way down to a strong public option, which would then have been seen as the marginal compromise that it really is, rather than the socialist government takeover of health care that the Right likes to pretend it would be.

Then again, hindsight is always 20/20, and if we really wanted a president who would push for single payer to begin with, we should have all voted for Dennis in 2008, now shouldn’t we?

Some of the discussion about universal standards of morality in the Haiti thread and Cheryl’s diary got my mind wandering down a familiar but, of late, not oft visited path. It occurs to me that it has largely fallen out of my consciousness because I have no one with whom to discuss such ideas. Maybe moose can provide me with some insight.  

As a child, before I knew terms like cultural relativism and anti-realism, I was already of the opinion that morality was largely subjective and certainly not absolute. I don’t know that I ever thought there were universal standards of right and wrong. It seemed apparent to me at an early age that everyone’s “morality” differed, even if only in subtle ways, and as I learned about history and other cultures, I only became increasingly entrenched in that viewpoint. I still believe that people are neither inherently good nor bad — that possibly, in fact, our natural condition is largely amoral — and that what we call morality stems primarily from two sources: Fear and societal norms. Actually, that can be simplified even further. I could just as easily say that morality is spawned from fear alone, since I believe fear to be the impetus behind the establishment of many social norms and cultural standards of morality.  

In light of the recent quake-wrought devastation, we think it might be helpful to pull together a list of relief organizations and charitable groups working to aid the people of Haiti. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who are suffering in this tumultuous atmosphere, and their friends and family in the US and around the world who are hoping and praying for the safety of their loved ones.  

If any corrections need to be made in the list below, please let us know in the comments. This is a hastily thrown-together list because we’d like to get the info out quickly. Thanks to all Moose who have submitted links and information. If you find anything else, please submit below.  

There’s a reason Jon Stewart is the most trusted name in news. It’s not just because he rips on Republicans on a regular basis; rather, it’s because he points out failings and inconsistencies in both parties and amongst people all along the political spectrum. While I was disappointed that he didn’t stick it properly to John Yoo a couple of nights ago, he has done some stellar interviews that should make any halfway objective pundit or broadcaster proud. But despite his willingness to take down hypocrites and liars in both parties, it does often seem that his scathing satire more frequently targets Republicans — but not without reason.

As surely as facts have a liberal bias, hypocrisy has a conservative one. Let me be clear: This is not to say that Democrats (and truly, politicians in general) cannot be hypocrites. But when it comes to flagrant, vile, in-your-face, hysterical, mind-boggling hypocrisy, the Grand Old Party takes the cake. You know, the kind of hypocrisy that makes your head ache and pound near to the point of imminent explosion and your blood pressure skyrocket so quickly you get dizzy spells that rival those brought on by a strong, expensive dose of…  

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A lot of people think of the United States as a religious country, but really, it’s just a religious world out there. The US simply happens to have a lot of Christians. If you go hunting statistics, you’ll generally find estimates between about 12 and 17% for the “nonreligious” (atheist, agnostic, secular humanist, etc.) world population. From my personal heathen perspective, the religiosity in America and around the world is a bit puzzling. I doubt I will ever truly understand the need people seem to have for religion, though some of what I read indicates that it may increase life expectancy in some places and for various reasons. (But then again, so does owning a pet, so I figured I’d skip the religion bit and adopt four cats.)

This season tends to annoy me a tad, primarily due to the “in your face” attitude of so many southern Christians. Most of them mean well, of course, so it’s hardly something I feel comfortable directly criticizing; it still makes for many moments of slight vexation and exasperation, however, which I do my best to cover with a polite smile.