Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Mar. 19th through Mar. 25th

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

Quick Links to Past Comments
– Comments Page 1 is here.
– Comments Page 2 is here.
– Comments Page 3 is here.

32 Comments

  1. THEY’VE PULLED THE BILL! WP online headline hit a few minutes ago:

    “GOP health-care bill: House Republican leaders abruptly pull their rewrite of the nation’s health-care law”

    Go Team Blue!

  2. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 36 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 41. Showers off and on all day.

    Whew! Bullet dodged. Republicans in Disarray, tRump blows the deal, Ryan depantsed – yesterday was a great day to be a Democrat. Everyone can take the weekend off and then get your phones cranked up for the next fight: filibustering Gorsucks. The completely self-unaware Chuck Assley “encouraged a return to ‘normalcy,’ which he described as ‘dispassionate regard to making a decision on people for the Supreme Court.'” Two words: fk you. Then two more: Merrick Garland.

    I could not find the Democratic Party’s Weekly Address. It is the House’s turn and Nancy Pelosi’s web site has no video yet – probably they were all busy celebrating! I am in Schadenfreude overload reading all the headlines about tRump and Paul Ryan’s “failure” and “devastating loss” and I have a few articles up in tabs to read later. I will post John Lewis’ ACA repeal floor speech in Fighting Back because, well, John Lewis.

    This is seriously funny: Basketball Fans Treated To Ads Congratulating Republicans For Repealing Obamacare

    Basketball fans tonight in several Republican-adjacent TV markets are enjoying a series of ads, prematurely bought by the American Action Network PAC, inviting viewers to call their representatives to thank them for repealing Obamacare today—something that did not happen.

    Above you see an ad praising Virginia’s Barbara Comstock; it ran during the Wizards-Nets game.

    Kevin Drum grabbed the screen shot and created this:

    See all y’all later!!

  3. Good Saturday morning Meese
    37 and raining here in Saugerties. I have mid-term grades to post today – and early tomorrow morning leave to go to my speaking event in Pittsburgh – returning Monday afternoon.

    Smiling reading Al G

    • I saw that Tweet from Tasini last night and I decided to shut down my Internets. It is exactly what one would expect from a movement that disses women and disses people of color and is built on hero worship rather than reality. The Women’s March energized an army of phone callers and letter writers and post card senders and townhall goers and those millions who marched on January 21st saved our health care. Period.

      • As I commented to Al in the thread – I was watching MSNBC and when Chris Hayes promo came up – announcing his guests would be Bernie and Michael Moore – I turned it off.

        The entire cadre of people from the “left”who spent years hating on the ACA are now gonna step up and take credit for saving it? Oh hell no.

        Sure the ACA needs fixes – it was a good solid starting point – just like the early starts for Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The so-called lefties who wanted to throw it under the bus from jump street – have clearly never had to depend on emergency rooms for treatment.

        Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

        • That the first words out of their mouths were “now we need single payer!” shows how stupid they are. We just won a major victory to keep our modest health care system and they want to get the right alarmed about demands for a budget busting plan? Stupid and short-sighted. What we need to do is shore up the ACA then work on adding a public option. Change that impacts a trillion dollar industry has to be incremental. We can move the Overton Window to the left on health care but we can’t break the window and shove the pieces of glass down the throats of people. The ACA is popular right now, let’s build on that rather than give Republicans 2018 talking points.

          • These are people with zero political skills or insights. “Politics” is really the art of compromise – a word not in their vocabulary – nor do they understand long term struggle. They talk shit to get instant gratification from the acolytes they impress with radical rhetoric – and can’t get anything constructive done.

          • It’s pretty funny, really. They just saw what happens when a president has no clue how to build consensus and sees legislative battles as “deals” to be “closed” by the force of his personality. It doesn’t work that way. You cobble together a coalition with give and take, settling for the imperfect to advance the narrative, in this case “universal coverage”.

            Republican David Frum wrote a piece yesterday calling Republican’s failure to get on board with the ACA, the Republican Waterloo:

            Seven years and three days ago, the [Democratic] House of Representatives grumblingly voted to approve the Senate’s version of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats in the House were displeased by many of the changes introduced by Senate Democrats. But in the interval after Senate passage, the Republicans had gained a 41st seat in the Senate. Any further tinkering with the law could trigger a Republican filibuster. Rather than lose the whole thing, the House swallowed hard and accepted a bill that liberals regarded as a giveaway to insurance companies and other interest groups. The finished law proceeded to President Obama for signature on March 23, 2010. […]

            In that third week in March in 2010, America committed itself for the first time to the principle of universal (or near universal) health-care coverage. That principle has had seven years to work its way into American life and into the public sense of right and wrong. It’s not yet unanimously accepted. But it’s accepted by enough voters—and especially by enough Republican voters—to render impossible the seven-year Republican vision of removing that coverage from those who have gained it under the Affordable Care Act. Paul Ryan still upholds the right of Americans to “choose” to go uninsured if they cannot afford to pay the cost of their insurance on their own. His country no longer agrees.

            (My bolding).

            Overton Window – moved. It really was a big fking deal.

          • Thanks for the Frum piece – it is interesting to read Republican takes on the whole big deal

  4. Just finished reading

    The crazy – it burns. The R Freedom Caucus – with their lockjawed insistence on purity – are a mirror image of Democrats who shot down Hillary’s campaign – day in day out – with unholy glee.

    • That is one of the articles I have up in a tab to read later!

      A lot of people have forgotten that tRump was not a consensus candidate – he won with 35% of the Republican primary vote, splitting three ways with the traditional Republicans like Kasich and Rubio and the dominionist teapartiers like Cruz. The House has members from all three factions and the only majority they have is the R after their names. The rubber is going to meet the road when they need to raise the debt ceiling and pass the budget (we are running on a Continuing Resolution that expires in April). They have never been able to pass those kind of bills in the 6 years that they have been in power without Democratic Party help. The last time was when John Boehner was able to get a coalition together before he passed off the gavel to Ryan so that Ryan would not be “soiled” by making common cause with Democrats. Now he is alone atop the festering dungheap of House Republicans unable to gain a majority within his own party! Democrats are not going to help him if they lard up those bills with their pet projects. The death of the ACA repeal is only the tip of the iceberg; the Unified Republican Government is a big sham.

      • Yup. Exactly – they are essentially 3 parties. They are capable of being obstructionists – they simply don’t have the ability to govern – on the national level. They do a good job at being insane pigs in the states – however.

  5. Slept in, even though I have a busy day today. Funeral for a friend from church this morning then the annual HOA meeting this afternoon. Looking at the agenda, it’ll be fairly unpleasant. But I’ll have the memory of Donnie’s defeat to sustain me. That was sweet. And the Texas House Speaker publicly stated yesterday that he thinks the “bathroom bill” is stupid. Yay!!!!

  6. Such a relief – even though it’s just a battle in the war, we won it and lives are going to be saved because of it. R and R for a day or so, then back to the war. Meanwhile it’s a chilly-ish 60 and raining lightly but supposed to sort of clear off in a bit. Too dark for me to drive so I’ll do some work on my Street Prophets for the day and then go shopping when there’s a little more day light.

    At least I posted the correct DK Village diary today of the 3 that were in the queue. I’ve got to figure out how to work 2thanks Community Transcripts project into my “carry forwards”. But I will. Not counting Aji, it would take about $8K to clear my current needs list – but I’ve got half a dozen on the Kos Katalogue list that are going to be on the needs list if sales don’t pick up (not counting the 3 who are already on both lists). I will persist. It’s part of what I do in The Resistance – try to find help keeping (or getting) people in their homes.

    Best get to it. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, Meese! Here in NoVa it’s sunny, but there’s a film of white over the blue sky. It’s nice not to be cold for a change. Current temp. is 55 F., going up to 75 F. later.

    Despite the fact that the washing machine is showing signs of Resistance, I’m feeling quite pleased this morning about the ACA. The Rethug-loving Washington Poop calls it by the derogatory “Obamacare.” They’re desperately in love with Thing voters, running long, tedious screeds about why we should embrace and understand them. Faugh! I don’t need to understand any more than I already do about bigotry, ignorance, and misogyny.

    Now The Poop wants Dems to make nice with Republics to confirm Gorsucks and save the filibuster or nuke option or whatever for next time. Honey, this IS “next time”! Gorsucks may be “qualified”—as was Hillary to be president, Joseph McCarthy to be a U.S. senator, and Adolf Schicklgruber to be a house painter—but Gorsucks hates working people, female people, black people, children (after they’re born), and so on. I’m going to email my DINO senators on Monday to point out that Virginia women voted for a prochoice Democrat who became the first African-American governor in this nation. Years later they also turned out in sufficient numbers to elect prochoice Democrat Chuck Robb as U.S. senator over his Rethug opponent.

    We all know that a vote to confirm Gorsucks is a vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Never mind stare decis! Never mind that it’s been settled law since 1973! I am so goddamn sick of white men I could scream.

    Later on I’ll tell you how I really feel. :) Okay, my plans for the day include making a good dessert (fruit salad) for tonight; making a naughty dessert (Aunt Edna’s Chocolate-Walnut Drops) for tonight to cancel out the good dessert, and ruminating.

    Another late birthday present arrived in the mail, a white coffee mug that says clearly in blue letters: “Don’t blame me, I voted for HER.” LOL!

    • Am glad Democrats will filibuster Gorsucks – Rethugs will probably go nuclear and put him on the Court anyway.
      We can’t win em all – we can however put up a good fight.

      • A good card is no better than a bad one if never played (I have no idea where I read that, but it stuck with me). We definitely need to filibuster the bastid.

        Whether or not we will lose the filibuster over it is going to depend entirely on how much the knowledgeable Rs are willing to lose the cover we Dems give them for not destroying the government as the TPs have been agitating for since they got in back in 2010.

  8. 42 in chicago metro…. morning guys!

    Donald wont get much done as he was punked by the freedom caucus…. they will threaten to burn it down to get what they want.

    Entitlement reform probably doesn’t happen because Ryan also weakened himself as well.

    Trump is gonna need pelosi and Schumer to get stuff done (rubs hands together) dems can feast now on the big stuff and get concessions.

    • I was reading several “think pieces” this morning, most of which think it should surprise exactly no one that the Freedom Caucus was against this bill. They are against legislating.

      Unless Ryan wants to default on the debt and shut down the government, he is going to have to deal with Democrats. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.

    • {{{rto}}} – hope you’re right. Really, really hope you are right. But most certainly we’ll need our pros (Schumer and Pelosi for starters as they are the leaders) to pull this off. Thank goddess for experience – and no term limits!

  9. Good morning, 44 and raining in Bellingham. My knees are still complaining about yesterday’s therapeutic ivy clipping but my soul needs more time in the garden so that’s where I will be soon. I lost my clippers somewhere under the hedge yesterday but I have a new pair waiting for some action.

    I join all of you in a huge :::sigh::: of relief knowing that the ACA has survived this attempt to kill it. But I also know we need to stay vigilant. So come Monday I’ll make a round of thank you calls to my congressional reps who worked for this outcome and at the same time request that legislation to protect and preserve the ACA be thoughtfully drafted.

    So glad this week is over! Best wishes to all for an easy day.

  10. So, there has been siding off buildings in my complex since last fall. And it turns out the reason they haven’t fixed the siding is they discovered the siding was done badly in the 1990s, and……. long story short, there’s going to be a special assessment of, if I’m lucky, $15,000. And I might have to replace my windows, depending on how the City classifies the work being done & blah blah. Just when I thought I could come off the black beans & greens diet. Not that I mind them, I actually like it, but eating out maybe one a week, or even a month, would be nice. I think I’m gonna be sick.

      • we won’t know for a few weeks how much it’ll be, and there will probably be financing (several of us leaving the meeting said that if we were the kind of people who had $15,000 lying around, we wouldn’t live here) but even so — $100 or more every month, for years & years…. where’s that going to come from?

        • I can’t think of anything – except to see if there are any kinds of helping services for this sort of thing. Or if the city itself has some way of making this doable. Of course you can’t cough up that kind of money. Austin is definitely not the city I left in 1980 any more. It used to be a lot more caring.

          • thinking of where I can get a 2nd job…… or ask my credit union if I can get a loan from them

          • credit union first. You have enough physical stresses – 2nd job is last resort. moar {{{HUGS}}}

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