There goes my teary-eyed bi-annual lesson on patriotic duty and democratic gratitude, replaced with dire Tammany Hall pronouncements and grumbling that the nineteenth amendment doesn’t do a disenfranchised woman much good. Maybe we have some more basics to cover anyway. This morning when I told the girls I was voting for the swimming pool, Callie said she thought I should vote for one of those trampolines with the bungee cords on the sides, like they have at the mall . . .

In the interest of being an adult (whatever that means), I have been working on not caring about the private lives of our elected leaders. Everybody’s doing it, apparently, anyway, so sexual propriety would seem to be an unfair standard.

Fine, let’s turn to other matters. Public matters. Monetary matters. Say, tax matters. It’s pretty embarrassing (at least I hope they have the decency to be ashamed) that three of Obama’s appointees were delinquent in their taxes.

Aren’t these the people who, as members of that great Democratic party, like to tell us to suck it up and happily pay our taxes for the greater good? Wait, let me see if I can find a real quote on that.

How about:

“Taxes are what you pay to be an American” — like “membership fees,” says Democratic language guru George Lakoff.

. . . Joe Biden insisted that paying your taxes is a patriotic duty. No, scratch that. He said that supporting a tax hike was the American thing to do. “It’s time to be patriotic,” he told America’s putative tax slackers. . . . [then] . . . . Forget patriotism, insisted Joe, paying higher taxes is a religious obligation.

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.” That Democrat was then-Sen. Tom Daschle in 1998. (From the LATimes today)

I, like you, was moved on inauguration day. I, too, cried tears of relief and joy and hope when a black man became president of the United States of America.

And then I was sad three days later when he removed the ban on taxpayer money funding international abortions.

How could they use taxpayer money to fund something overseas that we do not allow here?

Maybe because they aren’t the ones paying the taxes.

Jane

p.s. Guess I won’t be needing Turbo Tax this year, after all. If the Secretary of the Treasury (and overseer of the IRS) cannot figure out his taxes, how on earth could a housewife in Utah be expected to understand them?

Especially this year, I’m just grateful that anyone is willing to take on the job (and the blame) of leading us through recession, war, pestilence, and frogs.

And whatever else President-elect Obama is able to accomplish, the absolute highest hope I have for his presidency is that, God willing and all the stars aligning, my friends, The Express will be the last movie EVER MADE to feature a newly-integrated sports team triumphing over bigotry, failed quizzes, athlete’s crotch, and small-town blonde girls in leftover poodle skirts.

But I wonder if our President-elect might not be rethinking his ambitions. Apparently, the president is not allowed to email or text or instant message. Obama is hoping to have a laptop in the Oval Office, and if he succeeds, he would be the first American president to ever have a laptop on his desk.

I have a laptop on my desk IN MY KITCHEN.

Who knew that being a stay-at-home mom had advantages over being president of the United States?

What do you think? Would it be worth technological annihilation to preside over 300 million back-seat strategists?

Jane

Why didn’t anyone tell me that a woman can have it all?

I feel like everything I’ve ever known about what a woman can be and should be, what she can have and should want to have, has been turned on its head.

Remember paradigm shifts? Remember when it seemed your paradigm shifted every week (puberty)? Remember when you grew up and your paradigm seemed to never shift past the next diaper change and yesterday’s batch of macaroni and cheese?

Sarah Palin seems to be the embodiment of post-feminism. As a tomboy/beauty queen/college graduate/wife/mother/mayor/establishment-taker-on-er/governor/vice-presidential candidate, she rocks!

I think we just saw Rosa Parks sitting in the front of the bus.

Did you see Piper (the 7 year-old daughter) licking her hand and smoothing down baby Trig’s hair?

Did you hear Palin introduce her “man” and her parents?

Did you wish you could be adopted and play under her desk while she made important phone calls?

I did.

If you liked this post, subscribe to What About Mom or Stumble It!

Politics makes you think you can change the world. If you can register an old lady living with seven cats in a weed-choked little house to vote, you can change the world.

Until you grow up and realize that even Republicans cheat on their wives and even Democrats drive gas-guzzling black SUVs.

I’ve been drifting slowly leftwards ever since, but I’m still a Republican, except when I entertain Libertarian fantasies.

I’m also a woman. And a Christian. These things should all go well together, but sometimes there’s tension.

At church on Sunday, Sally (7) asked me about the hymn we were singing, which starts: “Tis sweet to sing the matchless love Of Him who left His home above And came to earth — oh wondrous plan — To suffer, bleed, and die for man.”

Why Mom, she wanted to know, Why does it say “man” instead of “girls” or “women”?

I gave her the spiel — man is short for “mankind” and means both men and women, and girls and boys. Like when people say “The Dick and Jane Family,” and they really mean Sally, Susan, and Spot too. That answer satisfied her for now, and it satisfies me.

Mostly. Sometimes, though, I wonder why even the language I speak excludes me.

Wouldn’t it be great to show my daughter a female Commander-in-Chief?

I learned of Sarah Palin‘s being chosen for the VP spot on the Republican ticket from the Mommy Internets on Twitter. It should be a most fantastically exciting political development. I’ve never really liked Hillary: it’s easy for even an unenthusiatic Republican to be pretty disgusted by the whole Clinton machine.

But Sarah Palin! Miss Wasilla! Married to high school sweetheart! Mother of Five! Pro-Life! Something about Polar Bears!

What a dream it would be to have someone interesting and admirable and exciting and female AND Republican to vote for.

So why aren’t I down at the local caucus volunteering for flyer-envelope-licking duty? What could I possibly have against someone who hasn’t done enough in office to have much of a record on issues and policies?

Can a Stay-at-Home Mother be Pro-Palin?

Many pro-lifers are excited about Palin, because she chose to continue her fifth pregnancy even after finding out her son had Downs Syndrome.

Now she has chosen to run for the Vice Presidency of the United States when that baby is four-months-old, and I’d like to know how and why she made that choice, and how it’s going to work.

I’m not saying that mothers shouldn’t work. Each woman has a unique set of circumstances that affects what she wants to do and what she can do and what she has to do. Different women have different energy levels, interests, ambitions, and abilities. We also differ in our family support, number of children, age of children, health, economic resources, and social and academic opportunities, etc.

Most women spend a lot of their time balancing their own needs and wants with those of their families. (Good husbands and fathers do the same).

Marriage is a partnership, and if Palin’s husband were a stay-at-home parent, I’d have no reservations whatsoever about her ambitions. If one partner in a marriage has an extremely unconducive-to-family-life job, it’s nice if the other is able to give greater attention to the children. One benefit of unconducive-to-family life jobs is that they are usually well-compensated enough to allow the other parent this luxury.

Can a Working Mother be Pro-Palin?

Governor Palin was back at the office three days after giving birth. Is that the sort of life-work balance working mothers are striving for?

The winners of November’s election will influence policies that affect mothers, stay-at-home and working. Will we have more tax credits for childcare? An equivalent tax credit for stay-at-home-parent care? Will we raise taxes to expand subsidization of day care and Head Start? Will family leave and maternity/paternity benefits increase or decrease?

Does Governor Palin understand why a woman would choose to stay home and the challenges she faces? Does she understand what most working women struggle with in seeking to balance kids and careers?

Sarah Palin was chosen for the express purpose of appealing to female voters and Hillary Clinton supporters and working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. But I’m not going to vote for someone just because they’re female or just because they’re Republican or just because they’re pro-life. I’d like to know what my candidate’s positions are, in life and in work, before I cast my vote.

Side note on Personal v. Public lives. It’s ridiculous to say that what politicians do in their private lives doesn’t affect their public service. Half (or more) of Palin’s appeal is supposed to be that she’s female, which is as personal as it gets. Also, no one complains when childhood anecdotes illustrate how deprived or hardworking or determined or principled candidates are. Should their actions and choices in adulthood carry less weight than whether or not they chopped down a cherry tree?

Natalie at Politics for Mom said this this morning:

As a mom, I am also not fond of the discussion that’s starting about how [Palin] should stay at home and raise her disabled and troubled kids. We already carry so much guilt as moms . . . especially when it comes to working and not working. It’s bad enough when your family and friends question your decision, but imagine having to answer to an entire nation. Would I be running for vice president if I was in her position? Probably not. But I respect her decision.

Yes, imagine having to answer to an entire nation. And if that doesn’t sound like something you’re interested in, please don’t run for a national office.

Side note on the possibly purloined pregnancy. I’m going to hope that Governor Palin was telling the truth about her baby. CNN agrees, though I don’t know anyone else who hid a pregnancy that well. Not even Shirley Jones in The Music Man.

*Updated* Phyllis @ Aimless Conversation linked to this article about Todd Palin taking a leave of absence to spend more time with the kids and avoid conflicts of interest when Sarah Palin became governor.

So many are enraged that anyone would even talk about her being a mother in the same breath as her candidacy. Well, I just don’t agree. Personal life choices reflect policy positions (or vice versa).

The fact that Palin didn’t abort her Downs baby shows that she’s staunchly pro-life. No one gets mad when this connection is trumpeted, because it’s an obvious conclusion to draw.

The fact that Palin was back at work immediately after giving birth shows that she might not be staunchly pro-maternity leave. Doesn’t it?

Just read this article at the Washington Post, and now don’t know whether to vote for her or ask to be adopted . . . or ask . . . Where can I get a Todd Palin of my own?

I wanted to thank all you nice people who commented on my Afraid to Call Yourself a Writer? post. I was hoping to share the great news that I’d won the $250 prize for most pageviews. But alas, someone who has mastered StumbleUpon got more pageviews — like 14,000 to everyone else’s 500.

StumbleUpon. Hmmm, Dick and I look at each other like, Wuh? Reminds us of the time we refused to learn how to play the 2-player card-game version of Settlers of Catan because it seemed way too involved. Turns out it’s not that complicated, not like Rook, or anything. StumbleUpon, though: that’s inaccessible.

Sometimes I think it might be nice to keep a list of all the kind things people say about my blog/writing/chocolate cake. Then I think it would probably be a good thing to keep a list of all the mean things (and, in bold, the running total of my ad revenue, which would surely keep me humble).

But I have gotten a couple of awards in the past month, and I wanted to acknowledge them here, in the vein of showing gratitude (As opposed to bragging. Really. Because wait till you see what the awards were for).

First, a confession: I lied to Toni when I told her that the Arte Y Pico Award was my first bloggy award. Because I remembered that Marie gave me an award for Biggest Mountain Dew Fan. And what a great award that was. Not too hard to live up to, so if fits my goal of having low expectations.

Toni was nice enough to say that even if my blog is not an art blog, I have created some pretty special (her words) art named Sally, Susan, and Spot. I feel a bit ambivalent about calling my children my art because, after all, any crack whore can have children. And I’m pretty sure that if when my kids turn out relatively well, it will be due to luck, good genes (from their father), and a benevolent, forgiving God.

One of the requirements for winning the Arte Y Pico award was to pass it on to five of my favorite art blogs, and here I have to make a second confession. Not only do I not even contemplate aspiring to art or design on my own blog, I don’t even really read (look at? peruse?) art or design blogs. Besides Dooce and The Pioneer Woman, and my giving them an award would be a little like Whitey’s drunk dad congratulating Fred MacMurray on being a good father.

I like Toni’s blog because it introduced me to quilling (and an interesting woman). And, wait! I do look at A Little Sussy sometimes (beautiful photography, clean, simple design, yum). So, Nicole, take this Arte Y Pico Award, and go in peace.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, please go read Why a Recession Might Be the Best Thing for America. Thanks!

You know, of course, that if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain, right?* About taxes or wars or crappy schools or pitchy voices or asinine song choices. I know, it’s disheartening that it’s all so staged and phony. Not to mention demographically rigged. Blue-collar women like Hillesha, ‘tween girls and everyone over 75 likes McArchuleta, rockers and other assorted cool people like Baracook.

THIS is American Idol.

—-

No real political views were harmed or expressed in the making of this post.

*Unless you vote in the form of conscientiously-abstaining from voting in our troubled democracy, naturally.

—

I’m linking this up to Writer-Mommy’s Writing Wednesday carnival on Hope, because, baby, this is my hope for America.