Have You Called Mom Today

The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal, as well as Wild, Wild Left, the Peace Tree, Independent Bloggers Alliance, Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus and Worldwide Sawdust.

The corporate media, blogs and our individual attention spans are understandably consumed by the celebrity hype of presidential politics these days. Mothers Day however offers an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our society and individual families.

Women have made remarkable gains the past forty years. Indeed when Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in their famous 1973 tennis match, women were typically denied credit cards simply for being women. Today women are CEOs, television news anchors and Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House.

As my readers know, I?m not fond of Hillary Clinton but a woman coming this close to the Democratic Party?s nomination for president is a cultural milestone. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in the United States Congress ran for president in 1972 and observed that, ?I've always met more discrimination being a woman than being black.?

Our culture has certainly evolved since Chisholm ran for president. As economist Jared Bernstein pointed out to me during a podcast interview last month, women?s wages have increased dramatically in recent years while men with high school diplomas have watched their earning power disintegrate due to globalization. Yet this reality has only added to the struggles and stress of professional moms as well as working class ?waitress moms.? Too many moms must lift the household in today?s treadmill economy while their husbands struggle to earn a living wage as manufacturing jobs disappear.

Working is not simply a choice for women today or a legitimate pursuit of career ambition. It?s an absolute necessity. Most families can?t survive without two incomes and the precipitous decline of male incomes have made our treadmill economy steeper. Yet moms still absorb much of the household burdens and parenting responsibilities.

Frequently, it?s mom who carries the weight in today?s treadmill economy while their husbands struggle to earn a living wage. Meanwhile, mom has to simultaneously assuage the ego and pride of those dads who earn less after the plant closed or they were laid off. Also, too many fathers abandon their responsibilities and leave mom to raise their kids without any support.

In many households mom is the CEO within the home and sets the tone for the family as a whole. If mom isn?t happy nobody in the house is happy. Mom is often the one who wakes up the kids who would rather sleep and get them to school. Through it all it?s often up to mom to smile through the adversity, manage the conflicts and controversies between siblings, help the kids with their homework and be a wife to dad. Mom has to be a disciplinarian without losing her temper due to stress. That?s tough. And sometimes mom isn?t perfect and loses her temper when she?s expected to pick up after everyone as dad watches ESPN and kids behave like kids.

And let?s not forget the repercussions for moms from our foreign policy. While most sacrifice little in our military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan we have moms widowed and struggling, or carrying on while dads are compelled to serve multiple tours of duty due to America?s back-door draft. There are also those moms raising their kids and supporting the family while simultaneously struggling to transition their traumatized husbands back into society.

We also have mom warriors serving abroad and risking their lives while the government callously does little to help their families at home. And those mom warriors also suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and are expected to seamlessly become mom again when they return home. While were at it, for damn sure we shouldn?t forget the moms in Iraq and Afghanistan living in misogynist cultures who have needlessly lost their children and husbands due to ?collateral damage? as the Pentagon likes to call it.

To their enormous credit, moms have great challenges partly because they?ve embraced them and succeeded in rising above them. And of course one person those moms can often call upon when they need a helping hand, advice or a shoulder to lean on are their own moms. Kids often know that in a pinch mom will call grandma in a time of need.

Twenty-five years ago, the most memorable moment of my Bar Mitzvah was when my mother, grandmother and great grandmother stood with me on the podium while Rabbi Katz presented the Torah. Rabbi Katz told the congregation, ?We are privileged to have four generations represented up here today. Three generations of mothers who made today possible.? I sensed it was a poignant moment at the time but it wasn?t until years later I realized how much it mattered to have three generations of mothers standing with me.

Bottom line, call your mom today.


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http://ooibc.blogspot.com/2008/05/have-you-called-mom-today.html

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FOSSELLA, FACING AT LEAST ONE DIVORCE, SAYS HE
WON'T GIVE UP HIS SEAT-- AT LEAST NOT UNTIL AFTER JULY 1

While House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), looking at a very real possibility that next year's Republican House caucus could be reduced by 2 or even 3 dozen members, has publicly asked Fossella to resign by Monday, not all wingnuts agree. The Staten Island GOP says they admire Fossella for apologizing. And two Fossella cronies, Long Island Rep. Peter King and Guy Molinari, have sent up trial balloons for Fossella to see if he could get away with staying in Congress-- and even running again in November!

According to the NY Daily News Fossella and Laura Fay flaunted their affair and the GOP leadership was not only aware of it, having witnessed them in action, but was concerned that Fossella would bring more disrepute on the already scandal plagued Republican caucus. Bigamy is a crime in Virginia and even in Staten Island most voters think one family per guy is the proper lifestyle. Fossella has always supported a definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman but never said anything about one man and two women. And both of his women are angry. The actual wife, Mary Pat, is talking divorce and now we learn that Fossella was lying to Laura Fay, telling her he and Mary Pat were separated. Today's Daily News speculates that "flowers and brunch aren't going to do it for Fossella this Mother's Day-- not after he admitted he could mark the occasion with either his wife or his mistress."

Fossella's furious wife is considering divorce after learning of his second family, a source said.
Laura Fay, the mother of his love child, also feels betrayed. She had believed Fossella when he claimed that he and Mary Pat were separated, a source said.

There's just not enough chocolate in the world to sugarcoat that.

Fossella's Mother's Day plans remained unknown, although one family friend, more aligned with the congressman's wife, offered a tongue-in-cheek suggestion.

"I just hope that he's got frequent flyer miles ... he's got to cover a lot of real estate," the friend said. "Maybe if he's taking the two moms out, he does an early bird special and an after-theater special."

Sources indicated Fossella was hiding out on Staten Island at his uncle's house, where the shades were pulled down tight.

Perhaps his congressional predecessor as Staten Island GOP top dog, Guy Molinari, was in there with him. "I got every indication that he plans to run again. He's not just inclined to run. He plans on running," said Molinari. He said Fossella is "emboldened" by all the support local Republicans are giving him. Meanwhile Boehner called Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan and asked him to run for Fossella's congressional seat. "Donovan is an attractive option because of high name recognition-- and because of the contrast of a law-and-order official against a man arrested for drunken driving while en route to his second family, sources said."

If Fossella resigns before July 1, New York Governor Paterson could call a special election that would fill the congressional seat until the term ends this year and if a Democrat wins that election, he'd have the advantage of incumbency in November. But if Fossella resigns after July 1, as is thought likely, the seat would remain vacant until next January when whomever wins in November is sworn in.

A little personal note: my sister lives on Staten Island. I spoke with her today and asked her what her neighbors and colleagues think. She said all the women who work with her (in the public school system) are disgusted and outraged. She senses that many of the men are as well. She thinks Fossella should resign the same way Spitzer did and she thinks that's the general feeling in the district and completely the feeling among women.

Read The Full Article:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/05/fossella-facing-at-least-one-divorce.
html

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Can Clinton Still Win The Popular Vote No.

While the nomination campaign might very well be effectively over, especially given the vast,[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/288225983/showDiary.do

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Book Review: Larry Bartels' "Unequal Democracy"

Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age
By Larry M. Bartels
Princeton University Press
Princeton, NJ: 2008
328 pages
$29.95

... American beliefs about inequality are profoundly political in their origins and implications. Well-informed conservatives and liberals differ markedly, not only in their normative assessments of increasing inequality, as one might expect, but also in their perceptions of the causes, extent, and consequences of inequality. This is not simply a matter of people with different values drawing different conclusions from a set of agreed-upon facts. Analysts of public opinion in the realm of inequality--as in many other realms--would do well to recognize that the facts themselves are very much subject to ideological dispute. For their part, political actors in the realm of inequality--as in many other realms--would do well to recognize that careful logical arguments running from factual premises to policy conclusions are unlikely to persuade people who are ideologically motivated to distort or deny the facts. While it is certainly true, as Jennifer Hoschschild has argued, that "Where You Stand Depends on What You See," it is equally true that what you see depends in significant part on where you stand.

A challenge to conventional wisdom--including, specifically, many strains of liberal conventional wisdom--Unequal Democracy is a flat-out wonkfest of statistics, charts, tables and (thankfully) Larry Bartels' patient hand-holding and explanations of the mass of data that points to the undeniable realities of class in our society and how that affects our political system.

And as most readers at Daily Kos could probably guess, news is not good on the class front, in many cases in unanticipated ways. Just a few of the conventional wisdom-busters Bartels discusses in Unequal Democracy include:

1. Americans hate the estate tax, and they did long before the right wing changed it to the "death tax."

2. Politics matters. A lot. There is a huge difference between Republican and Democratic policies that affect the pocketbooks of middle-class and working-class Americans.

3. Contrary to popular belief, working-class whites (outside of the South) have not deserted the Democratic Party--affluent whites have.

4. Economic issues still vastly outweigh cultural/social issues when it comes time to cast a vote.

5. To the extent that social issues have increased in importance, it is only so for the affluent white voter, not the working class.

6. Gaps between the classes are at least equal to--and often exceeding--those found in Europe.

7. The more informed the voter, the more pessimistic he or she is.

8. Low-information conservatives and low-information liberals are virtually indistinguishable in their beliefs; high-information ideologues of both stripes differ greatly.

9. Self-identified Democrats and Republicans differ more in perception about America's economic opportunity than the actual rich and actual poor do.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/288187322/563

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Edwards: Hillary Clinton has to be really
careful that shes not damaging our prospects

John Edwards said it's over and sent a signal to the Clinton campaign:

John Edwards, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, cautioned Sunday that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ?has to be really careful that she?s not damaging our prospects? by staying in the contest against Senator Barack Obama.

Jed has the video.

That's really wise advice. But, Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, is still in a fighting mood, apparently. Puffing his chest out on FOX today, Wolfson delivered some classic fifth grade school yard taunts:

But Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser, struck a feisty note on Fox, saying that if Mr. Obama wanted Mrs. Clinton out of the race, there was a simple way to ensure that: "Beat her. Beat her in West Virginia, beat her in Puerto Rico, beat her in Kentucky." Mrs. Clinton, of New York, is favored in those coming contests; Mr. Obama holds an edge in the others, in Oregon, Montana and South Dakota.

That would almost be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

The Clinton campaign is rife with bullies who threw their weight around, yelling at people, screaming at people. I experienced that twice myself early on, before I supported anyone and just wanted a Democrat who could win. (And, trust me, I had very few interactions with Clinton staffers.)

There's nothing better than seeing the bullies get their butts kicked. And, that's exactly what's happening now.

So, Clinton and her entire staff should heed the words of John Edwards. The Clintons and their vaunted brain trust screwed up their own campaign. They don't need to inflict their ruinous behavior on Obama and the rest of the Democrats anymore.

And while we're on the subject of Clinton campaign people, the best line of the day, didn't come from anyone on the Sunday shows. It came from Al Giordano:

I personally don?t believe a word McAuliffe says about anything, and look forward to the moment, once Obama?s the nominee, that McAuliffe won?t be sent out, not even once, to be a surrogate on TV anymore.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/288310157/edwards-hillary-clinton-h
as-to-be.html

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Doug Goodyear, McCains pick to run RN Convention
resigns over Myanmar lobbyist ties

(graphic via Press TV)It’s been well documented that John McCain has more lobbyists running his campaign than the entire 53 man roster of an NFL football team. I remember seeing John McCain look so sheepish during his presser with his wife Cindy after the NY Times story came out that I said this:Because he [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/11/doug-goodyear-mccains-pick-to-run-rn-con
vention-resigns-over-myanmar-lobbyist-ties/

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Politicizing Show Trials at the Same Time as
Politicizing DOJ

Marty Lederman links to the important opinion disqualifying General Thomas Hartmann from any involvement in Salim Ahmed Hamdan's--Osama bin Laden's driver--military tribunal. As Marty notes, the opinion does much more than the traditional press coverage[...]

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http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/11/politicizing-show-trials-at-the-same
-time-as-politicizing-doj/

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Hillary Clinton's Electoral Map Argument

You have to admire her for one thing; the woman is bloody relentless.

Sen. Clinton re-introduced her electoral map argument, which she raised yesterday in West Virginia, where she said ?delegate math may be complicated, but the electoral math is easy.? Clinton on Friday night sought to make the same argument that she can win the election in November despite Sen. Barack Obama?s lead in delegates.

Clinton said, ?The only way we can have a Democrat in that White House come next January is to win in November, and we cannot win unless we can win 270 electoral votes. Look at the map and figure out where we are going to get those votes and which candidate is more likely to be able to win those votes in November.?

Clinton even offered a jab toward her opponent during the dinner saying, ?We have had enough of speeches. Enough promises. That?s not going to solve our problems. What we need is action.?

She's now admitting that she can't win the delegate count which is "complicated" but now the Democrats have to give her the nomination because she is the only one who can win the 270 electoral votes needed. She doesn't say this is because Barack Obama is a black man, but she doesn't need to as she has already made it very clear that this is why she thinks whites who didn't go to college won't vote for Obama.

It's actually bordering on pathetic now. This contest was Hillary's to lose. In the beginning she led by some twenty point margin and had a name recognition that was liquid gold amongst Democrats. When she failed to secure her victory by Super Tuesday her campaign simply imploded.
The truth is, based on the way that both Hillary and Obama have run their respective campaigns, Obama has had the campaign which has been both ruthlessly efficient and inspiring and he is the man who would be best suited to running the nation.
Hillary, having tried to win the popular vote when the delegate count was out of her reach, has now simply started claiming that the US won't elect a black man; ignoring the fact that it is equally true that some people are sexist enough to refuse to vote for a women to take the top job.
I'm not sure if she even believes what she's saying anymore, as the one thing Hillary and Bill are not is stupid, especially when it comes to politics. Sites like Taylor Marsh's continue to bleat on about the fact that until their is a winner there is everything to play for, but I suppose she has to say that to please her readers and to give them some reason to return and drink her Kool Aid.
As someone who decided some months ago that I wanted Obama to win, I don't feel the slightest bit tense as the race is completely over.
Eventually Hillary will realise this. Until then she'll continue to make insane points like the one above and her supporters will continue to congratulate her on her grit and determination.
In the real world this is known as flogging a dead horse. It's exhausting and utterly pointless. For all of us.

Click title for full article.

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, US election 2008, Democratic presidential nominee

Read The Full Article:
http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2008/05/hillary-clintons-electoral-map-arg
ument.html

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Fearguth’s Great Snark Hunt

“For every thirst, there’s a flavor.Drink Haterade!”

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http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2008/05/11/fearguths-great-snark-hunt-153
/

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Another great SNL skit

Jake Tapper points us to a second great SNL skit last night. Not political, and you may not get it if you're much under 40. Watch the video here.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/288296419/another-great-snl-skit.ht
ml

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