Motley Moose – Archive

Today President Obama signed into law the new State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill.  This bill extends healthcare coverage to 4 million uninsured children beyond the original 7 million covered by the program.

As a “downpayment on (his) promise to cover every American” it isn’t a bad start.  Those 4 million kids are about 9% of the 45 million uninsured Americans.  The bill passed the House overwhelmingly today as it has twice during George Bush’s presidency – the only difference being that it was not vetoed this time.

If we can get that much done in the first fifteen days of this new administration, perhaps we can get more done in the next 1,400.

On an icy day in January, a new President in the United States took the oath of office with soaring words of hope, idealism and courage. At a time of the worst global recession in living memory and a multitude of challenges, he did not shrink from reality but embraced the capacity to change it. Those who heard him were lifted.

Speaking to the millions in America, but heard by billions around the world, President Barack Obama said:

“What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.”

Obama spoke of America, but he could have been speaking of the world. We are everywhere in need of renewal and hope. None more so than on the climate challenge where we need fresh vision and a politics that looks forwards not backwards.  The stakes are so high that anything less than an audacious, global effort to reconcile our differences and make peace with the planet will fail humanity. We will not regret it in our parochial nationalisms as Indians or Americans, but as humans – as a species that failed itself, and condemned the rest.

This is why 2009 matters and why this year’s UN Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen in December must not fail.  

In his first televised interview as President, Barack Obama sits down with Al-Arabiya [full text here] and lays serious smackdown at the feet of Al Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden and the death-cult dead enders are spinning in their caves.  How exactly do you paint Barack Hussein Obama as the Evil West?

President-elect, now President Obama has been taking some flak from the LGBT community for his actions and words about gay rights during the transition period. Perhaps the most controversial was the inclusion of the pro-Prop 8 minister Rick Warren in the inauguration festivities.

It is easy to understand the frustration and doubts those actions caused in the LGBT community and among supporters of equal rights for all people. Balancing the expressions of outrage from some were calls for patience from supporters, like myself, who felt it was unfair to make judgments until Obama took office. Those calls for patience seem to have been vindicated on the day Obama took office.

The Internet savvy Obama team continued to show they are on top of their game when it came to the transfer of power from Bush to Obama. The White House web site (www.whitehouse.gov) changed at the same moment Obama took office. What I found on that site gave me great satisfaction.

There is a page on the site that addresses civil rights. On that page is a section dealing specifically with LGBT issues. There are many encouraging subjects listed in that section. I’ve included the complete section below.

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!

Alexander Haig, Chief of Staff to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Secretary of State to Ronald Reagan, has words of praise for Barack Obama.

John Allen is finding some sense in William Kristol, cats and dogs are living together and half of registered Republicans approve of Obama’s actions since he was elected.  Are these signs of the End of Days, or the beginning of an Age of Reason?

Well, it’s official.  According to the Washington Post, Barack Obama has named Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates to the roles of Secretary of State and Defense, respectively.

There are people on the left and right unhappy about either or both of these picks, which makes me very pleased.

According to a New York Times report, Hillary Clinton has apparently accepted the position of Secretary of State.

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

The apparent accord between perhaps the two leading figures in the Democratic Party climaxed a week-long drama that riveted the nation’s capital.

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

Mr. Obama’s office told reporters on Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but this is the first word from the Clinton camp that she has decided.

This is great news, as far as I’m concerned.

Al-Qaeda’s #2, Ayman Zawahiri, released a video today blasting President Elect Obama and calling him “dishonorable” and refering to him with racial epithets.

Wait, I thought they would be dancing in the streets? (a sincere Fuck You, you miserable traitorous bastard, Congressman King – ed).

Oh, and Rush Limbaugh – you sick anti-American slimeball – thanks for the mention that Obama looks like Ayman Zawahiri.

Wait, I thought that Al-Qaeda was praying for Obama win? (special trans-continental ‘piss-off’ to John Howard – ed)  

The hottest news out of the transition game is the possibility of Hillary Clinton receiving the nod as Secretary of State. It is so hot that it has overshadowed the appointment of Eric Holder as Attorney General. The SoS is considered the most prestigious and influential post on any Presidential cabinet. The appointment would surely please most Clinton backers. She could play a much more active and influential role as SoS than she could as VP.

Is the rumor of the appointment overblown, as the rumor of her being picked as VP turned out to be, or is this the real deal? From everything I read, I think the offer has been made contingent on the results of the vetting process.

Marc Ambinder reports today, that the vetting has been, “ongoing, delicate, sensitive and private.” He also reports that Bill Clinton has gone out of his way to help the process. This is great news for those who think she would make an outstanding SoS.