To Holly at the AP, Thanks, but no

Dear Holly,

Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I’m flattered that you saw something of interest in my writings. I saw the comment last night and have spent some time mulling things over. Much to my own surprise, I’m going to decline your invitation to discuss Elizabeth Edwards.

You are correct, there is no contact information on this blog. It is anonymous for a reason. It is my place to rant and rave about whatever crosses my mind without fear of reprisal. I have other blogs where I identify myself, and I craft my messages more carefully in those spaces to insure the respectfulness that I believe is necessary for our coexistence on this planet. Here is where I blow of my steam of Righteous Moral Indignation. Venting is good, but it is not always conducive to peaceful coexistence. I don’t advertise this blog, nor do I share the URL with people. If per chance people stumble upon it, I welcome feedback, but do not view it as a requirement to continue to write (yeah, I know this seems a little odd in light of my Sally Field post, but tough).

I’m not naive, I’ve probably revealed enough here that someone who REALLY wanted to find me could (no, that is not a challenge to all the psychos out there :).

I’m also not afraid of confrontation, and I am more than willing to discuss and if necessary defend my opinions, but in the case of Mrs. Edwards, I have said all I feel comfortable saying at this time. I do not wish to further any discussion of the so called “Mommy Wars“. Not that you were necessarily headed that way, but if I were to discuss Mrs. Edwards, I would like to do so in the context of her work with her husband’s campaign and by conscious choice, I have not been paying too much attention as of late. The election is more than 1 year away, yet both sides of the aisle started campaigning late last year. While I believe in the democratic process, in the immortal words of Dennis Miller, “Hey Cha, Cha, I have a life to lead”. The field of candidates will shake itself out and they will all eventually share their positions of the issues of importance to me, or they won’t and I’ll judge them based on that lack of information. Right now, I have children to raise, a marriage to enjoy and a business to run. Oh and rants to rave in anonymity.

So Holly of the AP, thanks for the invitation, but I respectfully decline and wish you good luck in your continued search.

Reesie

Someone finally crystalized my thoughts on Elizabeth Edwards

When I first heard that Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer had returned I cringed. When her husband didn’t drop out of the race for president, I got mad. How could he waste what little time he had left with his wife and she with their children on a political campaign?

Then I read interviews with her and I got mad at her! She sincerely believed this was a good idea! My righteous moral indignation went through the roof. What about her children? How could she rob them of a mother? Was she telling them that the plight of the U.S. was greater than their need for a mother? Did she expect that her oldest daughter would step up and be a mother to the younger children. That’s a lot to ask!

Then I got real. Hey, it is their business. It is HER business. I wouldn’t want someone to tell me how to live my life, so I’m not going to tell her how to live hers. Even if she made dumb choices

Then I saw her at Blogher ‘07 and I was really struck by how genuine she was and I was moved by her sincerity. She was very matter of fact and part of me thougth she should be the one running for the White House. This woman has a plan and I’m sure she’s gone to great lengths to insure that her children will be well cared for and loved.

I was out at The Motherhood today (great site stop by if you haven’t) and found a link to Jen Lemen’s site. Jen also attended BlogHer 07 (think I saw her, wish I’d met her), but she had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Edwards personally. She crystallized my feelings on the situation perfectly. When Jen met Elizabeth Edwards, she said

“I worry about you,” I said, surprised at how emotional I felt putting these thoughts into words. “I know your cancer is back and that you have these little children. I want to be so supportive of what you’re doing, but at the same time I don’t want to participate in something that would diminish this time in your family’s life–your time is so precious.”

YES! YES! that is it exactly. I’m not 100% sure I’ll vote for Senator Edwards, some of what he has to say appeals to me, but I’d hate to think that by voting for him, I some how hastened Mrs. Edwards’ death.

You can and should read Elizabeth Edwards response here. I’m still mulling over my options in the Democratic field, but now I feel like if I pick John Edwards, I can vote for him with a clear conscience.

Thank you Jen for putting words to my feelings!

BlogHers Act! My Issue

As I mentioned, I’m attending BlogHer this year. BlogHer wants to know about my hot button issue.

Education.

I have a lot of hot button issues, but this is one that I think everyone can get behind and impact locally, and globally.

I live in a state that struggles to adequately fund public education solely through property taxes. Now the courts are involved. Our legislature is up against a deadline and it is getting heated with no real sign of resolution anytime soon.

Kindergarten is not required in our state! Most of those districts that do offer it usually only offer half day programs Helloooo?

No Child Left Behind is a joke. The intentions are good, but the results are disastrous. So, sorry Uncle Sam, but you can’t lay down mandates and set standards expecting to get results without providing adequate funding. The only difference these days is that teachers teach our kids how to succeed on standardized tests. They don’t have time to teach the kids skills they will actually use in the real world.

Oh and don’t get me started on education of the disabled. I live this hell annually with my kids. By law, districts can’t talk about money, but the reality is that the bottom line drives every decision a district makes on a child’s behalf. This has to stop. There also has to be an end to the “learn it our way or no way“ mentality in public schools. I firmly believe this would cut the number of kids in Special Education by at least 1/3. If you don’t get phonics, you are screwed and that just isn’t right. We all have different learning styles and teachers need to be given the latitude, time and resources to teach in ways that accommodate all students. Go listen to Flowers are Red by Harry Chapin.

But education extends beyond our children. Education or the lack of it touches everyone. It is time we made education at all levels more accessible and affordable. You don’t need a degree from Harvard to put a roof over your head and food on the table, but in this day and age, a high school diploma doesn’t even qualify you to live at the poverty line.

Education doesn’t have to be 4 years of college. Education means, mentorships, internships, technical training. There needs to be more of it and at a lower cost. SInce we’ve got so many people that are so far behind the curve, we also need to look at providing resources to support those that truly want to make more of their lives e.g. college dorms for mothers (or fathers) with kids.

The old adage holds true, if you give a woman a fish she can eat once (okay twice, we women are ingenious like that), but teach her to fish and she thrive for a life time.

It is time we gave everyone a REAL chance to thrive.

A Message To the Democratic National Party

It has been almost a month now since the mid-term elections. I hope by now you’ve realized that the Democrats didn’t win, the Republicans lost. There is a difference.

The Republicans were doing it wrong, but that doesn’t mean the Democrats were given carte blanche by the voters, even this registered Democrat. I don’t want to see our taxes sky rocket. I don’t want to see all the time, effort and lives invested in Iraq wasted.

I do want to see civil liberties respected. I do want to see an end to corruption, scandals and favoritism in Washington and Corporate America. I want to see us get out of Iraq, but as gracefully as possible. Let us not leave that country in worse shape than when we found it.

As a party, the Democrats have less than two years to demonstrate to the American public that they can get their acts together and that they can govern better than the Republicans. It can’t be business as usual or all of those hard fought battles will have been for not and there will be another Republican in the White House come 2008. The party has to focus. They need to understand what issues the voting public REALLY cares about and address those issues.

Here’s my short list:

1. Protection of Civil Liberties. If law enforcement wants to listen to my conversations, they’d be bored to tears, but they better have a convinced a judge that it is a worthwhile effort and obtained a warrant.
2. Better Education. No Child Left Behind is a disaster. The intention of the legislation was valid, but the outcome has sucked the creativity out of our education system and left teachers teaching to a test. And by the way, if Washington wants to mandate something and impose their will on The States, they had better be willing to pay for that mandate.
3. Lower healthcare costs. With the explosion of HMO’s Big Business has taken over healthcare. Gone are the days when a doctor actually had time to TALK with patients. Too many people can’t afford decent preventive healthcare which drives the cost up for everyone. I don’t pretend to know the answer here, but something has to be done.

Come on Democrats, FOCUS. Let’s make a difference when it really counts

Some Insight Into My Politics

I am a Democrat in sea of Republicans.

Frankly these days it isn’t easy being a Democrat but I persevere because the radical right frightens me.

This article on Boston.com struck a chord with me.

I also liked this piece from Newsweek.

So, now you know.