Politics for Moms

Saturday, July 12

Tony Snow Dies

It was with much sadness that I read this morning that Tony Snow died after a long fight with cancer. He was only 53.

Over his 30 year career, Snow was a syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician. In 2006, Snow became the White House press secretary where he served President Bush for 17 months.

Snow had his colon removed and underwent six months of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005. In 2007 he announced his cancer had recurred and spread to his liver, and he had a malignant growth removed from his abdominal area.

Snow joined CNN as a political commentator early this year.

Friday, July 11

Freedom Friday

I'm on vacation this week, so I'm going to open up Freedom Friday to all of you today. What freedom do you think Americans take for granted the most?

Leave a comment and let's discuss.

Thursday, July 10

Why a Recession Might be the Best Thing for America

By Jane at What About Mom

After my husband got an MFA at Columbia, we moved from New York City to Cairo. We went from a scary neighborhood full of drug dealing and held-up bodegas to Ma'adi, a beautiful, green suburb of the world's dustiest city.

Tom taught at the American University. I took a few Arabic classes, but mostly I took care of our daughter and did the usual expat-wife activities: playgroups, church socials, and shopping trips to the bazaars.

One day my friend Suzy and I hired a cab to take us to Garbage City, a very different suburb of Cairo. There the Zabbaleen sort and recycle the city's trash that their school-aged children have collected on their donkey-cart routes.

Besides sorting and recycling, they also live on the garbage. The streets are muddy streams of rotting, stinking trash. The peels and rinds from my kitchen, the broken toys, the shreds of our family's daily life were the backdrop to thousands of Zabbaleen lives.

The United States Agency for International Development surveyed the Zabbaleen to find out which forms of aid would be most effective in helping them escape their bleak surroundings. But they found that the Zabbaleen have surprisingly little desire to leave Garbage City, because that is where their families are.

The Zabbaleen have carved a place for themselves, living where no one else wants to, doing something no one else wants to do. The lives they have carved, surrounded by family and friends, are incomprehensibly fulfilling.

In the United States I feel poor if we can't afford a second car or a vacation this summer. In Cairo I felt richer than Bill Gates because I had 45 dollars to pay a maid each month.

Of course I don't want a recession. I don't want to feel poor. I don't want my best friend from when I was thirteen to be facing a scary, high-risk pregnancy without health insurance.

And of course I wish the Zabbaleen had the opportunities and freedoms that I have enjoyed since birth.

I don't know enough about policy or economics or globalization to propose a way out of this recession mess, or even to enthusiastically support either of the presidential candidates.

I do know that I envy any person who values a life near family and friends over the material comforts that I sometimes think would make all the difference.

Wednesday, July 9

What You Don't Know About John McCain

By Jean from Moms for McCain

I blog every day about John McCain and why I think Moms should vote for him. But since I have only one post here, I want to share the McCain you haven't seen - the "man inside the suit."

You know McCain is Republican (insert applause or sneers here). You may NOT know that McCain has been endorsed by both prominent Democrats and conservative Republicans (Fred Thompson, Sam Brownback, Gary Bauer, to name a few). You may NOT know that in the Senate McCain actually *got things done* working with Democrats, passing key legislation, including campaign finance reform and climate change.

You know that John McCain served with distinction in the navy, including a 5 1/2-year stint as a prisoner of war. You may NOT know that due to his father's high military rank, he had the chance to go home early - and didn't take it, out of loyalty to his fellow servicemen and his commitment to his country.

You know that McCain is married to Cindy, a former teacher and active philanthropist. You may NOT know that sons Jimmy and Jack are currently active-duty military, and Jimmy was actually *in Iraq* in 2007, during a rocky period for the McCain campaign. You may not know that daughter Meghan has a great blog with behind-the-scenes photos. And you may not know that Cindy McCain brought home daughter Bridget from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh for life-saving medical care - and a very surprised Senator McCain welcomed them and adopted Bridget within the week.

You know that the media has given more attention to Obama and Clinton, perhaps because of the historic nature of the primary, perhaps because of barriers breaking, perhaps because they just like them better. You may NOT know that McCain has thriving online and grassroots support, and that outreach to women and Moms is growing every day.

Come join the discussion and learn more about John McCain: a leader America can believe in.

Monday, July 7

Are You a World Changer?

This was first posted in January 2008.

The former prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated last month allegedly by Islamists for her conviction that secular democracy was the only answer for her troubled country.

She was considered an ally of the United States and many had put their faith in her for bringing democratic stability to Pakistan. As NPR wrote, we also like her because, "The Harvard and Oxford-educated Bhutto had become an icon in the West, which found it hard to resist the allure of the charismatic female leader of an otherwise male-dominated Islamic nation."

For as many supporters as Bhutto had you'll find double the number of people who doubt her place in history. William Dalrymple from the International Herald Tribune wrote that she was,

"a natural autocrat who did little for human rights, a calculating politician who was complicit in Pakistan's becoming the region's principal jihadi paymaster while she also ramped up an insurgency in Kashmir that has brought two nuclear powers to the brink of war."

Dalrymple definitely provides a different picture, and now with her death, we may never know whether she was truly one of the "good guys" or not.

However, what still intrigues me about this woman, and mother of three, is that she knowingly put her life in jeopardy every day because she believed a secular, democratic Pakistan was the best choice for the future of Pakistan. She was a visionary who was determined to change her nation and ultimately alter the course of the world. Bhutto was a world changer.

In the United States today, we don't know what it means to live in oppression. As women, we can't comprehend a life where we are merely a possession or a piece of property that is owned by our father or husband. And as mothers, we've never experienced a time when are children were not afforded every opportunity to follow their own dreams, even something as common as marrying for love.

Our country was founded by world changers; men and women who believed in ideals that required the same passion and commitment as Benazir Bhutto. They fought and suffered and many paid the ultimate price with their lives for the very freedoms we have come to expect and take for granted.

In my prior post I closed with the question, 'What does Benazir Bhutto have in common with Politics for Moms'? The answer is actually another question: What do you believe in so passionately that you are willing to give your life for?

Now that doesn't mean you have to believe in say, literacy, so passionately you are willing to take a bullet for it. But maybe it means getting involved in your local soup kitchen, stuffing envelopes for your candidate of choice or becoming a mentor to the kid down the street.

I believe moms are born world changers. Even when we're sleep deprived and up to our armpits with dirty dishes, we still believe in the ideals of this country and we want those ideals to be around for generations to come.

Isn't that why you're visiting this blog? With your vote you want to make a difference? You want to have a voice. You want to be a world changer!

Keep the Conversation Going

I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, but Politics for Moms isn't going any where. You're going to be treated to several guest bloggers who will share their own take on the upcoming election and the two candidates. I'll also be reposting several posts from the archive that seemed timely.

I'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Sunday, July 6

At Least We Can Laugh About It

Saturday, July 5

Fifty-Six Signers

This post is from one of my favorite blogs, Evotional, by Mark Batterson.

I love history. And I love America! Thought I'd share a little of both as we celebrate Independence Day.

We live in a a day and age where we almost have to defend our patriotism. I'm certainly not suggesting that America is above reproach. Far from it. But a few years ago I did extensive research for a sermon series on our spiritual heritage and I walked away with a renewed sense of destiny. There is so much revisionist history out there that we tend to forget that a lot of our Founding Fathers were motivated by their faith in Christ.

Just thought I'd share some backstory about some of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence. Most Americans know next to nothing about these fifty-six heroes who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the cause of freedom.

John Witherspoon was an ordained minister and authored several books of sermons, as well as editing America's first family Bible published in 1791.

Charles Thomson served as Secretary of Congress and was a Biblical scholar. He helped edit the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint into English.

Charles Carroll, the last of the fifty-six signers to pass away at the age of 95 in 1832, wrote out his declaration of faith at the age of eighty-nine. On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for my salvation, and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.

Another Founding Father, Benjamin Rush, is considered the "Father of American Medicine." He personally trained three thousand medical students. Dr. Rush also founded "The First Day Society" which was the precursor to the Sunday School movement, as well as founding America's first Bible society.

It was Benjamin Rush who said the Constitution was "as much the work of Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament were the effects of divine power."

Francis Hopkinson was a church music director and edited one of the first hymnals printed in America in 1767. He also set 150 Psalms to music.

Roger Sherman is the only Founding Father to sign all four of America's Founding documents: the Articles of Association in 1774, the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Articles of Confederation in 1778, and the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

Roger Sherman was also a theologian. He wrote a personal creed that was adopted by his church: I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

I could share story after story, but the bottom line is this: many, if not most, of our Founding Fathers were motivated by their Faith in Christ. They wrote sermons and creeds and hymns. They founded Bible Societies and Sunday Schools. They served God's purposes in their own generation.

By the way, five signers were captured and tortured during the Revolutionary War. Twelve signers had their homes ransacked and burned. Two signers lost sons to the war they declared. Two signers had sons become prisoners of war. And nine signers fought in the war and died from wounds or hardships of war.

Hope that adds a dimension of gratitude to your 4th of July celebration!

Friday, July 4

Freedom Friday: Happy 4th of July

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. ---John F. Kennedy

We are not weak if we make proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power...The battle, sir, is no to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. ---Patrick Henry

Double--no triple--our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. ---Ronald Reagan

FREEDOM--no word was ever spoken that has held our greater hope, demanded greater sacrifice, needed to be nurtured, blessed more the giver, damned more its destroyer, or come closer to being God's will on earth. And I think that's worth fighting for, if necessary. ---General Omar N. Bradley

A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good. ---Barbara Jordan

You can gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face...You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.---Eleanor Roosevelt

Courage is the price life exacts for granting peace. ---Amelia Earhart

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. ---Thomas Paine

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ---Thomas Jefferson

God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.
---Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, July 2

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

I'm looking for a few guests bloggers to add their voice to the conversation next week while I'm on vacation. If you'd like to share your viewpoint on an issue, enthusiasm for a candidate or anything else related to politics, leave a comment or send me an email at natjimartin@aol.com.

On the Campaign Trail

Two issues seem to be making news this week:

1. Retired General Wesley Clark has questioned whether McCain's military service really makes him qualified to be President.

McCain Reflects on His POW Experience, Washington Times

2. Obama announced that he's going to expand support for Bush's faith-based program.

Obama: Expand Faith-based Programs, USA Today

Sunday, June 29

At Least We Can Laugh About It

Friday, June 27

Three Women Who Could Join GOP Ticket

McCain's camp has been tight-lipped about who they are looking at for vice president. There is no doubt that this is a decision that could make or break his chances to win. Not surprisingly, three women are among the possible candidates that pundits are suggesting in an article from Politico:

Alaska Governor Sarah Paulin

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be nationally unknown, but in her state she is nothing short of a political phenomenon.

Palin, 44, would add youth to the GOP ticket. As governor she has shown a willingness to veto some of the state’s large capital projects, no small plus for fiscal conservatives. But it’s her personal biography, which excites social conservatives, and reformist background that might most appeal to McCain.

She’s stridently anti-abortion, and recently brought to term her fifth child — who she knew would have Down syndrome. A hunter, fisher and family woman with a rapid professional rise, Palin is a natural for Republican framing.

In 2003, as ethics commissioner on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she risked her rising political star by resigning her position in protest of ethical misconduct within the state’s Republican leadership as well as then-Gov. Frank Murkowski’s acceptance of that impropriety. Though this briefly made her an outcast within the party, within a year several state Republican heavyweights were reprimanded for the conduct she’d decried.

Her reputation with the party thus redeemed, Palin defeated Murkowski in the 2006 Republican primary on the way to being elected governor.

As governor, she’s continued challenging the state’s powers that be, even winning tax increases on oil companies’ profits. Her approval rating has soared as high as 90 percent, making her one of America’s most popular governors.

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina has an up-by-her-own-bootstraps success story, having worked her way from a start as a young secretary straight through the glass ceiling to become Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive from 1999 to 2005. She presently serves as the chair of the organization tasked by the Republican National Committee with preparing the party’s crucial get-out-the-vote operation. It’s no symbolic post, but a crucial position for a party facing an uphill presidential contest.

Fiorina is also already close to McCain. The two of them recently sat down at his Arlington headquarters with frustrated Clinton supporters and urged them to shift their political allegiance to him. On the campaign trail and on shows like CBS News “Face the Nation,” she’s served as a ubiquitous advocate of the candidate. Privately, she has also become one of McCain’s most trusted economic advisers.

Grover Norquist, a fiscal conservative leader and longtime party organizer, touts Fiorina’s economic and executive bonafides but labeled her a “dark horse” vice presidential prospect. One Republican state party chairman said, “everybody would be very pleasantly surprised with her” before adding that “the danger is that she hasn’t been vetted” — a concern echoed by several GOP insiders.

These insiders also expressed concern that adding her to the ticket would do little to galvanize social conservatives, some of whom still view McCain with suspicion and antipathy. They also brought up her lack of foreign policy experience, and expressed concern that her reputation as “the most powerful woman in business” — as she was once called by Forbes magazine — could prove a dubious distinction at a time when economic anxiety is reaching levels unseen since the late 1970s.

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the longest-tenured female Republican senator, who until recently headed the Senate Republican Conference, now serves as chairwoman of the Republican Policy Committee, two top Beltway party posts.

In Texas, where she has been comfortably reelected, one Republican strategist notes that she’s “proven she can get scores of Hispanics in a huge state surrogate.”“She’s underused as a surrogate to the party,” the strategist added.

But despite her popularity in the state and in the party and her years of experience, insiders are skeptical she’ll be selected. Like Alaska, Texas is already a solidly Republican state in presidential races. And adding Hutchison — who supports embryonic stem cell research and is relatively moderate on abortion (she is against outlawing the procedure, though she also opposes federal funding for it) — to the ticket would also alienate some social conservatives.

And then there’s the energy problem. Hutchison has long been a defender of Big Oil, which may make political sense locally but could prove a liability in a national race at a time when oil companies are enjoying record profits even as Americans pay record amounts at the pump.

But before McCain can entertain the prospect of these three heavy hitting women, he needs to address the real question: Can a woman help him get to the White House?

via Politico.com

Freedom Friday

What is your definition of citizenship? What's your child's understanding of what constitutes a good citizen? Leah Davies, M.Ed. in her article "20 Ideas for Teaching Citizenship to Children" gives this great synopsis of what citizenship means:

Citizenship means being a member of and supporting one's community and country. A United States citizen has certain freedoms which are declared in the U.S. Bill of Rights. In addition to these privileges, a citizen has an obligation to be informed, law abiding, and uphold basic democratic principles such as tolerance and civic responsibility. Voting, conserving natural resources, and taking care of oneself are all part of citizenship. In addition, citizens often participate in local community projects dedicated to the common good.

In her article, Ms. Davies encourages parents to talk with their children and ask them what they think are the responsibilities of a good citizen. Then have them think about times when they or someone they know exhibited good citizenship.

For example:

I was friendly to a new child from a different country.

I helped clean up the park.

My mom and I passed out voter pamphlets.

I collected used toys and clothes for needy children.

I walked away from a fight.

I said "no" when a friend asked me to steal money from another child.

I wear my bike helmet and follow other bike safety rules.

I wait for the signal to cross the street and I stay in the cross walk.

According to Ms. Davies:

Helping students explore citizenship and connecting it to their lives are the keys to true understanding. When children are exposed to storytelling, drama, and other activities in which they are actively involved, their retention is increased. If they learn that people from other countries are not necessarily free to voice dissenting opinions, practice their religion, or even have as many children as they would like, the students will begin to appreciate their freedoms.

As parents, if we aren't intentional about instilling these concepts in our children, they may grow up not understanding the sacrifices of their forefathers and why it's important to stay involved in their communities and in the democratic process.

This summer, Freedom Friday is focusing on ways we can build citizenship in our children. Here are earlier posts from this series:

Learning the National Anthem

The Pledge of Allegiance

Tuesday, June 24

Are You Anonymous?

I love when a post sparks great debate. It's one of the main reasons I started this blog: I wanted people to think about why and what they believe instead of just regurgitating facts or the talking points of others.

So it really pains me to write this post because I really and truly don't want to do anything to stifle the flow of debate. However, I've become increasingly annoyed with readers who are leaving anonymous comments. I understand that not everyone who reads has their own blog usernames, but I'm going to request that if you leave an anonymous post that you at least sign your name at the bottom.

I have a strong hunch that some of the comments are being left by people who do have blogs and therefore don't need to leave anonymous comments. If I'm describing you, please stand by your comment. And we don't care if you're a guy; this blog has a lot of readers who are men so don't let the name of this blog keep you from participating. We want P4M to be a site where anyone can learn and challenge each other.

I really hate having to add this guideline but it's hard to have a respectful discussion with nameless comments. Please continue to add your challenging and well-thought out comments, just add your name.

Bill Clinton Offers to Support Obama

Former President Clinton said through a spokesman Tuesday that he is committed to helping Barack Obama become president, his first comments in support of his wife's former rival since their primary ended three weeks ago.

"President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States," Matt McKenna, Clinton Spokesman, said.

via ABCNEWS.com

Obama Inspires Fashion Collection

Yes, you read that right. Donatella Versace dedicated her Spring-Summer 2009 collection to Obama, creating a style she said was designed for "a relaxed man who doesn't need to flex muscles to show he has power."

She also had some fashion advice for the presumptive Democrative nominee, "I would get rid of the tie and jazz up the shirt," she said.

Hmmm, not sure how that look would fly with voters but it would definitely add a whole new level of political fodder.

Dobson Says Obama Distorting Bible

News agencies are reporting that on today's broadcast of Focus on the Family's radio show, James Dobson accuses Sen. Obama of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.

FoxNews reported that The Associated Press received an advanced copy of the show's transcipt with these excerpts:

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy - chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.”

“Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said.

Dobson accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.
“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said.

“… He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama’s argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion’s terms but in arguments accessible to all people.

He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the “lowest common denominator of morality,” labeling it “a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.”

“Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?” Dobson said. “What he’s trying to say here is unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe.”

Check the Focus on the Family website for a listing of the radio stations in your area that will carry today's show.

Obama Opts Out of Public Campaign Financing

Last week, Sen. Obama announced that he would not take $85 million in public financing--as well as the strict spending limits that would accompany those funds. He is the first candidate to reject public funding since the system's creation after Watergate.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised by that announcement since he had just declared the opposite a few weeks earlier. Sen. McCain jumped on the news saying that Obama had broken his promise to fund his race publicly.

So what could possibly change Obama's mind about how to finance his campaign?

Obama argued that he opted out of public funding because "the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system."

Obama has used Internet to raise nearly $266 million from 1.5 million-plus donors and there seems to be no stopping him.

While those numbers are impressive, the negative for Obama may be a public perception of hypocrisy.

"The true test of a candidate for president is whether he will stand on principle and keep his word to the American people," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director. "Barack Obama has failed that test, and his reversal of his promise to participate in the public finance system undermines his call for a new type of politics."

The real question is, "Does the public care?" Weigh in with your opinion on the sidebar poll.

For more on this topic, you can read:

Can Obama's Money Buy Him Love, CNN

Obama in Danger of Damaging His Brand, ABC News

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