Motley Moose – Archive

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President Obama delivers remarks at the Cannon Ball Flag Day Celebration at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Obama!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back!

~snip~

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love Michelle, too!

THE PRESIDENT:  Of course you love Michelle.  Who doesn’t love Michelle?

Full transcript below …

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Found on the Internets …

Fareed Zakaria: Who lost Iraq? The Iraqis did, with an assist from George W. Bush

But how did Maliki come to be prime minister of Iraq? He was the product of a series of momentous decisions made by the Bush administration. Having invaded Iraq with a small force – what the expert Tom Ricks called “the worst war plan in American history” – the administration needed to find local allies. It quickly decided to destroy Iraq’s Sunni ruling establishment and empower the hard-line Shiite religious parties that had opposed Saddam Hussein. This meant that a structure of Sunni power that had been in the area for centuries collapsed. These moves – to disband the army, dismantle the bureaucracy and purge Sunnis in general – might have been more consequential than the invasion itself.

How Iraq Turns Into Vietnam Before Our Very Eyes

And what happened to The Future Of Iraq Project which, whatever you might think of its ambition and the assumptions on which it was built, one of which is the now self-evident proposition that we pretty much suck at nation-building, at least was an attempt to construct a future beyond candy-and-flowers, and which at least had as its fundamental principle that, having wrecked Iraq, we had something of an obligation to fix it for the Iraqis? Donald Rumsfeld happened to it. Dick Cheney happened to it. The utter incompetence of the administration of C-Plus Augustus happened to it.[…]

Who-Lost-Iraq? sadly will become an issue in the midterm elections that are upcoming in the fall, and that it will do so before the country has been honest with itself in answering the question, “Why Iraq At All?”

Sunk Cost

A sunk cost is a cost that an entity has incurred, and which it can no longer recover by any means. Sunk costs should not be considered when making the decision to continue investing in an ongoing project, since you cannot recover the cost.

Sweep up the shards, shed some tears … and move on.

More news …

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Tuesday night, the tea party wing of the Republican Party turned on one of their own. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) lost his primary to Dave Brat, a professor who teaches Ayn Randian economics to college students. Brat spent $122,000 to Cantor’s $5 million.  

Tweets …

@imillhiser: “The Tea Party’s been a tremendously positive input, I think… certainly for our party, you see the benefit.” -Eric Cantor, Nov. 10, 2010

@JuddLegum: Lesson GOP will take from Cantor’s loss: Kill immigration reform. Real lesson: No matter how much you pander to Tea Party, it’s never enough

@DanaHoule: This shows a resurgence of the Republican establ…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

@lizzwinstead: ERIC CANTOR IS TOO LIBERAL FOR THE REPUBLICANS IN VIRGINIA! #murica #YourPartyIsCurdled

The Republicans made a deal with the devil and released the hounds of hell … who are biting them in the hinder.

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First Lady Michelle Obama was one of the speakers at the Memorial Service for Dr. Maya Angelou Saturday morning.

She spoke of how inspired she was by Dr. Angelou’s words. Her own words are inspirational as well.

I first came into her presence in 2008, when she spoke at a campaign rally here in North Carolina. At that point, she was in a wheelchair, hooked up to an oxygen tank to help her breathe. But let me tell you, she rolled up like she owned the place. (Laughter.) She took the stage, as she always did, like she’d been born there. And I was so completely awed and overwhelmed by her presence I could barely concentrate on what she was saying to me.

But while I don’t remember her exact words, I do remember exactly how she made me feel. (Applause.) She made me feel like I owned the place, too. She made me feel like I had been born on that stage right next to her. And I remember thinking to myself, “Maya Angelou knows who I am, and she’s rooting for me. So, now I’m good. I can do this. I can do this.” (Applause.)

And that’s really true for us all, because in so many ways, Maya Angelou knew us. She knew our hope, our pain, our ambition, our fear, our anger, our shame. And she assured us that despite it all — in fact, because of it all — we were good. And in doing so, she paved the way for me and Oprah and so many others just to be our good, old, black-woman selves. (Applause.)

She showed us that eventually, if we stayed true to who we are, then the world would embrace us. (Applause.) And she did this not just for black women, but for all women, for all human beings. She taught us all that it is okay to be your regular old self, whatever that is — your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self.

Full transcript below the fold along with a video of the entire service.

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also the Weekend Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama underscored the importance of helping to lift the burden of crushing student loan debt faced by too many Americans and highlighted the efforts he’s taken to ensure we uphold America’s commitment to provide a quality education for all who are willing to work for it. While the President will continue to take action on his own, he urged Congress to do its part and commended Senate Democrats for working on a bill that would help more young people save money.