Obama’s Zero to Five: I want your children

Yes, yes, I’m still ecstatic over Palin.  And I will talk more about her later.  But I just stumbled across something quite interesting.  I think it might be especially of interest to all you parents out there.

“Change we can believe in,” huh?  How about universal preschool?  Read this:

Fight crime… send your toddler to preschool! Such was the message brought to Washington last week by law enforcement personnel and universal pre-K advocates in hopes of bending Congress’ ear—and loosening its purse strings. Supporters like David Kass, president of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, pointed to a report released by the organization stating that boosting graduation rates through implementing government-funded pre-K will save $10 billion in annual crime costs as well as preventing 3,000 homicides and 175,000 aggravated assaults annually. In fact, so eager is Kass’s group for Uncle Sam to become Professor Sam that it would include “in-home parenting coaching” in its program.

Unfortunately, Kass has a ready ally in Barack Obama, whose “Zero to Five” plan would farm even infants off to government-run schoolhouses—at a cost of $10 billion per year.

Obvious—and compelling—arguments that parents are a child’s best teachers aside, data show that preschool is not universally beneficial and may actually be harmful to children. According to James Heckman, a University of Chicago Nobel laureate in economics, “[T]he solid evidence for the effectiveness of early interventions is limited to those conducted on disadvantaged populations.”

In fact, as noted in a recent Wall Street Journal column, while preschool attendance has skyrocketed from 16 percent to almost 70 percent in the last 50 years, fourth-grade reading, science and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have remained nearly unchanged since the early 1970s.

But what matter the facts when a federal entitlement is involved? Unfortunately, not much to those who want Washington to whisk away toddlers from their parents for the imagined utilitarian good of the greater society.  (courtesy of patriotpost.com)

Yes, you read that correctly.  Yet another ridiculous Obama-supported program, designed to cut the ties between parents and their young (impressionable) infants and children for…what exactly?  To reduce the risk of crime some 18 years later.  Of course we all want to reduce crime rates, but paying tax dollars for yet another govt. program to take over for parents themselves is scary and a long-shot.  What is “in-home parenting coaching” anyway?  “Government-run schoolhouses?” Is anyone else disturbed by this?  I mean, are we going to need some governmental program to help us in the bathroom next? (I put that quite politely, by the way.) Remember all my harping over unnecessary govt. intrusion?  How exactly would universal pre-school keep kids from dropping out of high school, one of the greatest predictors of violent crime, poverty and drug abuse?

Please don’t misunderstand.  I’m not judging preschool.  It’s great for kids to get that extra care and attention, especially if they’re not getting it at home.  But the truth is that we already have good preschool opportunities for children in this country.  To make it mandatory and to have tax dollars pay for it is simply wrong.  And it all sounds rather totalitarianistic to me.  (I’m sorry, but are we the USA or China?)  

Just a little heads-up for those of us who would like to keep this kind of change out of our country and our homes.

On the Too Good page: NOW’s hypocrisy and Sarah Palin.  She’s just “the wrong kind of woman.”         

More on Gov. Palin: One tough mama

Hot post! Hot post! 

Yes, my blog is rockin right now, and it’s all due to excitement about Gov. Palin’s VP nomination.  She is resonating, people.  From looking around, she is resonating esp. on the part of Mommies. (Who happen to comprise a good portion of voters, I might add.) 

Here she is: doing it all.  Apparently quite well.  Not only has she done a great job governing her state of Alaska, she’s doing a wonderful job as a mother at the same time.  No, she is not “abandoning” her child; on the contrary, she brings him along with her to work.  Is this not the dream of many mothers?  For all you earth mamas out there, here is a picture of Gov. Palin with her slingling:

Heartwarming, is it not?  Right there, I can identify with her.  I’ve been everywhere with my baby in a sling.  What a great example to all moms.  (Nice sling, by the way. She’s stylish, too.)

Could we be seeing the greatest new example of true Feminism in America in Gov. Palin?  No pantsuits here.  She’s smart, capable, dedicated, driven.  This is a woman who knows what is important.  As I stated in my last post, I truly think that mothers know  what true challenges are, and they know how to face those challenges.  Anyone who has ever dealt with the task of rearing children must develop resiliency and toughness, and I humbly argue that those qualities would serve any politician well. 

As for her purported “lack of experience”?  Compared with whom?  Obama?  She’s running a state right now.  Obama’s been in the IL senate for how long?  And how much of that time has he spent chasing the Presidency?  Leaves little time for actual experience.  I’m no political mastermind, but it doesn’t take one to realize that the whole “lack of experience” argument is not going do any damage here in reference to Gov. Palin. 

In fact, isn’t the fact that Gov. Palin is a fresh new face, from Alaska (arguably one of the farthest places from Washington) one of her strongest attributes?  Hasn’t the Obama campaign been calling for change and a shift away from “politics as usual”?  And he picks Biden- an old white guy and a 36 year veteran in Washington?  Hmm.  (Not that I have anything against old white guys, you understand.)

No, the more I digest this move by Senator McCain, the better I like it.  Now, just like the editor of Newsweek suggested that if Obama isn’t elected president it ”proves America is racist,” then America is sexist if McCain/Palin aren’t elected.  Of course, this is a stupid argument, and no Republican would ever make such an asinine comment.  (I just threw it in as an example, here.  Americans are not racist if Obama isn’t elected.  They just find him unqualified or disagree with his policies, whatever those are.)  What I’m arguing is that this throws a little wrench into the Left’s habit of making these sorts of silly arguments. 

Reference the Too Good page for an excellent article on how to counter the coming attacks on Gov. Palin, courtesty of American Thinker. 

To quote Rush:  Babies!  Guns!  Jesus!  Hot damn!

 

It’s a great day.

I can’t deny it.  I’m excited about Sarah Palin.  For those living under a rock, McCain has picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his VP nominee.  She’s a fiscal conservative, outdoorsman, mother of five, pro-life, small government, NRA member.  And the fact that McCain nominated her is completely throwing the left and the MSM (is there a difference?) off their game in a way that is both humorous and disturbing.

It’s humorous because McCain has blown Obama’s address off the front pages today.  At this point, people are going, “What speech?”  It’s disturbing because the Democrats–the self-designated party for minorities, women, the poor, underprivileged–should be happy that a woman (though not the first) is up to be second-in-command, and they’re…not.  (Could it be that they are only interested in advancing the cause of liberalism, and not women at all?) 

I’m glad though, that McCain nominated a true Conservative.  This will help him immensely.  I shudder to think of my feelings and other Republicans’ feelings should he have chosen someone like Joe Lieberman. 

Of course, the Left will come back swinging, and Sarah Palin will have to have thick skin, as she is about to be attacked mercilessly and unfairly. I’m already seeing this as I do a little ”research” online.  For example, I read on the Liberal website Daily Kos:  “I find it rather troubling that Sarah Palin would walk away from a four month child with Down Syndrome to chase her political ambitions.”        

What?  According to the Left, I thought women were supposed to be able to do anything and everything, including working while simultaneously being a mother?   Suddenly, the Left thinks she should have stayed at home?  Interesting. 

Also interesting:  Her youngest child, a four month old baby boy named Trig, was born with Down’s Syndrome.  I can’t help but wonder if some liberals feel that Trig should have been aborted.  Don’t think I’m trying to be outrageous here.  I’m absolutely not.  This idea has been professed numerous times by those in the pro-abortion/liberal camp.  Gov. Palin and her husband knew four months into the pregnancy of the diagnosis.  But unlike many, they made the decision to carry him to term.  Gov. Palin said this of her baby:  “We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential.”  Wow.  What a great testimony of her strength and principles. 

You cynics will likely scoff at me for this one, but another reason I already feel admiration for her is because she is a breastfeeding mother.  As you moms know, breastfeeding a baby is not easy.  (At least, not initially.)  To do so requires a level of dedication that is daunting, to say the least.  To breastfeed as a stay at home mom is hard.  To breastfeed a baby and work is harder still.  To breastfeed a baby with Down’s Syndrome requires a breastfeeding mother to go to fantastic lengths, because babies with Down’s have a hard time with it at first due to low muscle tone.  So, I say, to breastfeed a baby with Down’s Syndrome and run for Vice President of the United States is quite a task, and my judgement of just what Sarah Palin is made of has soared.  In my estimation, a mother of five knows how to handle difficulties and work through them, and that type of experience is nothing to diminish. 

As for “abandoning him to pursue her political ambitions”?  Palin has stated that she takes him to work with her, just like she did with her next oldest, Piper.  That’s awesome.  Just imagine it: Vice President Palin walking into a meeting at the White House with her nursling in tow.

I can’t wait to watch this develop.  It’s going to be fun to witness the media and the Left step in it, as they try to destroy her without sounding hypocritical.  I love politics.

Depend on it…

No, I didn’t watch Obama’s speech last night.  I was playing Bunco and having a few adult beverages.  But I did read the transcript this morning.  Smooth, oh so smooth.  Obama supporters were probably in the throes of political ecstasy during it.  It is said that Oprah cried her eyelashes off.  That is all quite wonderful. 

But you probably already know what I’m going to say already about the address.  For those of you who might be reading me for the first time, it goes a little something…like this:

Everything he said sounds good.  But there’s the problem of implementation and a little thing called “reality.” I fail to see how anyone on Planet Earth could possibly achieve what he sets forth to do, let alone someone with next to no experience.  Furthermore, THE MEANS TO THE END are kind of important (to me, at least.)  For example, if he wants to lessen unwanted pregnancies by promoting condoms to second graders and increasing abortion rights, I object.  If he wants to improve health care by nationalizing it, I object.  If he wants to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals by sacrificing our second amendment rights, I object.  (Am I way off-base to suggest that no law will prevent a criminal from getting any sort of weapon he wants?  Esp. when there already ARE laws against this?) The litany could go on indefinitely.  Depend on it: If a liberal wants make improvements in any area, this means expensive government programs that will only add to the entitlement mentality that already plagues some sectors of our fine nation, and increase taxes along the way.  Obama spewed forth the same socialist agenda of which we’re all weary.  Nothing unifying.   

Truthfully, I found his speech to be so utterly full of spin and half-truths, that I nearly threw up the waffle I had for breakfast.  I suppose I can’t sugarcoat it any more than that.  Sorry.

Breaking news:  McCain has announced his VP pick:  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  Conservative, young, mother of five with more experience than Obama himself.  McCain:  Awesome pick.  A true conservative.   It looks like Republicans have room for women, Hillary supporters.  More later…must work.

Okay, which is it?

I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’ve so far been silent about the DNC stuff going on this week.  Surely, this silence is uncharacteristic of her!  Well, if there were actually anything to report, I’d comply.  However, from what I’ve seen from TV coverage, the DNC speakers have not said anything that would compel me to consider their position.  It’s basically been a comical, phony and sometimes downright awkward lovefest between Clinton’s people and Obama’s people.  Hillary Clinton feels she should have been the one accepting the nomination, and she’s going to let everyone subtly know it.  Her perma-smile is one micro-flinch away from a toothy sneer.  David says it’s a therapy session, with talk of feelings and hopes, but nothing concrete upon which to base these feelings.  For example, what actual policies do they plan on implementing to bring us out of this “dark period” in our history?  To voters, (at least the ones I know), these are the things that matter most.  But the endless emotional rhetoric about hope and change is swiftly becoming vapid.  We need some specifics here.  Perhaps Obama’s grand, Parthenon-inspired address tonight will finally bring us some clarity on his actual positions. So far, he has succeeded with ambiguity, but due to his rapidly falling poll numbers, the Obama campaign had better begin to deliver some tangible positions and policies before the American undecideds throw up their hands in exasperation and write him off completely. 

One thing that did jump out to David and me was the confusion we felt upon hearing the addresses by Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, which went a little like this:  “We live in the greatest country.  Look at what we came from and how successful we are now.  This is why America is great.”  This followed by, “We need change.  America is not great.  There is no hope other than Barack.  America is an unfair and unjust country.”  Yes, we were a bit confused.  Of course, I do have an opinion on why this is, but rather than expound, I’d instead refer you to the Too Good page, where Michael Medved hits the nail with such accuracy, that I’d rather you spend your time there than here.

So, greetings and farewell, from a middle-class wife and mother who truly believes that America is a land of fairness and opportunity.

It’s on now…

It seems that Obama’s plans to gain the Catholic swing vote by nominating “Catholic” Joe Biden is not the boon for which he was hoping.  It actually might be backfiring, as both the Denver and Washington Archbishops have strongly and publicly condemned both he and Pelosi regarding their unapologetic pro-abortion stance, even going so far to say they should refrain from receiving communion.  It’s all over the internet news sources (although the MSM will likely keep this on the down-low.)  Not the kind of favorable press they had desired, I’ll wager.   

It’s about time.  So what’s going on?  I think we’re finally beginning to see US Catholic laity and the Catholic hierarchy emerge from the quagmire of the late 60s and 70s, when many fell away from true church teaching in favor of a sort of temporary kum-ba-yah version.  This resulted in a generation of “cafeteria Catholics,” who pick and choose which Church teachings they wish to follow and which to ignore (two biggies being, of course, abortion and contraception.)  My theory is that things are changing for the better, owing a lot to the strong leadership Pope John Paul II and current Pope Benedict.  More and more Catholics are starting to embrace and understand their faith, rather than just blindly follow it (or not follow it, in several, ahem, cases.) 

Of course, due to the vastness of the Church, when one of its members does something wrong, the whole lot of us gets implicated.  You see, if a Protestant disagrees with their pastor, they leave that particular church to find another one, whose pastor says what they like to hear.  (Or, they start their own church.  Hence the limitless supply of Protestant denominations.) The disgruntled Catholic, on the other hand, either leaves the Church for one of said denominations, stops attending mass altogether, or becomes a cafeteria Catholic.   Unlike Pelosi’s claims, Catholic teaching has not, and does not change with the whims of the times. 

I am glad to see the Catholic leadership condemn these politicians, who do great damage by supporting abortion while simultaneously receiving Communion.  This sends out a very mixed message to the general population, and to Catholics in particular.  It appears that the Catholic swing vote is becoming more and more conservative, and far less likely to put up with hypocritical CINO politicians like Pelosi and Biden.

C-I-N-O

Catholic-In-Name-Only

Exhibit A: Joe Biden

Exhibit B: Nancy Pelosi

This is preposterous.  Just read it, and dare to claim that no one really knows where the Catholic Church stands on abortion.  There are only two conclusions: either pro-abortion Catholics are deluded, or they are brainless.  Period.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/24/pelosi-lies-about-catholicism-and-abortion/  Pelosi lies about Catholicism and abortion http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/07/more-on-the-catholic-conundrum/ More on the Catholic conundrum (for those Catholics who cite economic or anti-war issues as the reason they support a pro-abortion candidate)

Seriously, Ms. Pelosi, if you happen to take issue with one of the Catholic Church’s teachings, there are about 30,000 Protestant denominations out there who would be happy to have you.  Join the Methodists for heaven’s sake, but don’t have the idiocy to suggest that the Fathers of Catholicism (and Christianity) haven’t settled on the question of when life begins.

Naiveté knows no bounds

A weekend full of visitors—very nice.   A swing set full of kids—adorable.  Parents over for a lazy Sunday—free babysitting.  And I’m not one to let this opportunity pass without taking advantage of it.  I mowed the lawn, went for a run, and took a hot bath without interruption—bliss. 

And now I have to face Monday bravely, and try to work through the long to-do list on my counter.  Starting with freezing tomatoes, a job I hate.  After I’ve completed that, I should freeze the peppers, followed by the first of probably 20 bushels of apples.  I have mentioned that I hate doing this.  But the guilt of seeing them go to waste is almost more than I can stand.  (Nevertheless, after a couple days of freezing, I honestly can let them rot.)

I’m eagerly awaiting the mail today, as I’m expecting a couple things.  One, a book that I’ve been wanting to read, (and one I’m sure you’ll be hearing about after I’m finished.)  And two new pairs of running shoes, one of which will hopefully work, the other of which I can send back.  Jon told me about zappos.com, and if you haven’t heard of it, try it.  They have shoes and clothing, and shipping is free both ways, plus you hardly wait for your order.  Linus and I look forward to getting the mail every day, even though most days there’s nothing in it.  Today might really be worthwhile.

Parents out there: please, Please, PLEASE don’t forget your baby or toddler in the car seat all day anymore in the heat.  I’ve read of far too many of these incidents lately, the latest being three year old twins.  And I can’t handle it anymore, it breaks my heart.  Check the backseat before going in to work or to shop.  I can’t imagine the pain of being a parent and knowing that it was your fault that your child died in a hot car.  This happened with one of our cats when I was in high school, and that was bad enough.  (I found him.)  Perhaps that is another reason I have such a hard time hearing about these tragedies. 

I think the Obama campaign is in a panic right now, owing to his pathetic performance at the Saddleback Church forum with McCain two Sats. ago and his subsequent falling poll numbers.  I’m sure you’ve all heard not to vote for McCain because he has…seven houses!  Wow, they’re really pulling at straws now.  Why on earth go there, of all places?  Attack his policies if you want, but does anyone honestly think it matters how many houses a person owns?  I mean, how many millions did Obama’s house cost?  Or any other wealthy politician’s?  Since when is it wrong to be a success?  Of course, it all goes back to not being able to make money anymore.

Last week Obama equated Russia and the US in regard to Russia’s invasion of Georgia.  We all expected some people to make the ill-informed comparison between Russia’s invasion of Georgia and the Iraq War.  But the Democratic nominee for president?  Wowza.  You know, it’s frightening to me that a simple housewife in rural NE just might be a little better informed about this than the potential POTUS.  Yes, I suppose that if we’d only have been “nicer” and not invaded Iraq (whose leader ignored UN resolutions at least 15 times, used chemical and biological weapons on his own people and his neighboring countries, invaded other sovereign nations, among other humanitarian atrocities), then Putin wouldn’t have decided to invade Georgia, whose leader has done none of the above.  Nevermind the US tried for ten years to rely on diplomacy before going into Iraq. Nevermind that Republicans and Democrats both stated support for going into Iraq in the first place.  You know, our involvement in WWII was probably unnecessary.  We should have just relied more on diplomacy with Hitler, and I’m sure he would have come around eventually.   Why don’t we just ignore our ally, Georgia, and while we’re at it, why don’t we just let Russia roll on into Poland?  The fun has just begun. 

Enough for now, my head hurts, and those tomatoes won’t be ignored forever.              

  

          

Too many (crazy) people

It’s Friday…Do you know what you’re doing this weekend?  That’s one question we rarely ponder, but I love to live vicariously through my family and friends, who seem to do all sorts of fun and exciting things with theirs.  I do things like laundry and defrosting the freezer with mine. 

I added an interesting little sidenote story on the Too Good page, dealing with, da da DA: Overpopulation!  It has been quite the topic for the past few decades, and although it is a proven myth, junk science, laughingstock, etc…, I fear that solid science will not necessarily convince the crazy environmentalists, which have raised this climate-disaster fervor to fever pitch.  (Has anyone else developed Green Fatigue besides me?)  It’s kind of concerning, only because it’s a perfect way for the govt. to gain further control over our lives in the name of saving the planet.  And oftentimes this has led to the desire to limit the population through less-than-humanitarian efforts.  (Think China, socialism, forced abortions and sterilizations, one-child-only rule.)  It’s quite fascinating to watch the interplay between environmental panic and the actual solid evidence against it.  The saddest example that I’ve heard of recently was of a UK woman, 27, who had herself sterilized so that she would never have a baby.  To do so, she said, would be irresponsible, and create a carbon footprint too large.  You know, I think that perhaps Darwin did get some things right.  

The house is stirring, and another day begun.  We are going to the library this morning.  Linus has been reading fairy tales lately.  Last evening we played a wild game of Jack and the Beanstalk, taking turns being the Giant.  Such games do not get old to four year olds.  Although I must admit to enjoying myself somewhat as well.  Fee Fi Fo Fum.

Glitter and naughty four-letter words

I see I have hit a nerve, judging from the dramatic spike in my blog stats after Monday’s post.  And I’m thinking it’s not due to my own post, but the Mary Eberstadt article on the Too Good page.  Either everyone thought it as deadly accurate as I did, or they disagreed so much that they just had to pass it along to others.  I suppose I’ll never know.

I made the mistake of buying glitter that was on sale for the kids yesterday.  The good thing is, Linus simply loves it.  The bad news is, Linus simply loves it.  What else can I say?  I always have the best of intentions when it comes to these sorts of things for the kids.  But the problem lies in the disparity between the scenario that plays in my head and the actual reality.  When I picked up the glitter from the dollar bin, I was envisioning the two of us carefully and delightedly shaking glitter onto our small reasonably-sized dots of glue, and then thriftily shaking the slight excess neatly back into the containers.   As you can imagine, (as you mothers know) the reality is a bit different.  As a sidenote:  Does anyone know the best way to clean up glitter?

And to switch gears now completely, Obama is denying that he voted down the BAIPA bill just for its own sake.  Of course, we know better, as there is evidence that the Illinois Senate Bill did have a neutrality clause, and there is evidence that Obama knew it and killed it anyway.  (See post,” I’m glad that got cleared up” for background.)  National right to life groups are lying about the reasons he voted against the BAIPA bill, says Obama.  He said in an interview last weekend with Rick Warren,

“I hate to say that people are lying, but here’s a situation where folks are lying,” Obama said in the interview. “I have said repeatedly that I would have been … fully in support of the federal bill … that you should provide assistance to any infant that was born — even if it was as a consequence of an induced abortion.”

But he said that was not the bill presented at the state level. Obama said that bill was trying to “undermine” Roe v. Wade and that the Illinois legislature already had a law in place to ensure life-saving treatment is administered to infants.

“So for people to suggest that I … (am) somehow in favor of withholding life saving support from an infant born alive is ridiculous. It defies common sense and it defies imagination, and for people to keep on pushing this is offensive and it’s an example of the kind of politics that we have to get beyond,” he told CBN

 What defies common sense, Senator, is the absolute lack of logic in your mental faculties.  No, you’re not in favor of withholding life saving support from an infant born alive, you’re only in favor of performing life destruction before the birth has taken place.  (I think my head is going to explode.  Let me walk through this slower.)

I’m sorry, but am I missing something?  Okay, so a doctor is performing an abortion.  The goal of an abortion is to stop the heart of a baby that is still in the womb.  Does it not seem ridiculous, then, that the abortionist, upon seeing that the baby did not, in fact, die as a result of the procedure, should then immediately begin giving life-sustaining care to this same infant simply because his head has emerged from his mother?  Not ridiculous that he should administer life-sustaining care, but that there should be such an instant switch of mindset?  And shouldn’t this switch of mindset mean that perhaps it was wrong to be trying to kill the baby in the first place?

In my opinion, if you’re going to be pro-abortion, don’t try to walk the line here.  Anyone with a shred of intelligence realizes the quandary of the above scenario.  Am I saying that Obama has no intelligence?  Perhaps.  But I really think the reality is much scarier than just a lack of intelligence.  To be so determined to make abortion available to anyone and at any stage and at any cost denotes a lack of morality.  It is plain evil.  And there, I have said the naughtiest four-letter word of our times.    

Of course, to liberals, this idea of good and evil is absurd.  Everything is relative, after all.  What’s bad for you is good for me, and how dare you be so judgmental? (But, I forget, I guess liberals do think one thing is evil, the US of A.)  I fervently hope that Americans will open their eyes to the reality of evil, and cast their votes accordingly. 

An excerpt from today’s Too Good article by Jonah Goldberg that I just had to add here:

When asked what America’s greatest moral failing was, theological Obama said it was our collective failure to “abide by that basic precept in (the Book of) Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me.”

In 2003, as chairman of the Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Obama received a statement from Jill Stanek, a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. She testified that at her Chicago-area hospital, she’d seen a baby accidentally delivered alive during an abortion and then “taken to the soiled-utility room and left alone to die.”

 

I’m no expert on the Christian Gospel, but something tells me that Matthew might consider these wailing creatures the least of our brothers.