GG's Soapbox
Important Election August 24, 2008
Everyone knows what a big deal this next election is coming up. Our choices are really "bad" and "worse;" McCain and Obama respectively.
This is not going to be a long-winded article on the pros and cons of each candidate. My purpose here is to show you very briefly how much worse "worse" is than "bad."
Barak Obama is a communist. Yes, McCain is a capitalist and that affects those without badly enough, but it is worse to be a communist. Barak Obama wants all things equal. This is what our country has been fighting for for generations now. It seems that this is the answer, but please research the effects of communism on countries that have tried this experiment. The poor always think that communism will help them, but in the end, there is just never enough to go around for anyone. If you think that you are going to get a cow and have something to live off of for awhile, please remember that even though it is only one cow, enough to provide for your family for a short time, it is still everyone's cow and it will need to be divided up and used according to government regulations. You know our elected will eat before you will.
The upper classes are going to vote for Obama because they want to have a sense that they are helping the poor. Please remember that once Obama gets in, you will be just as poor as the rest of the third world communists.
Obama has already shown over and over that he is not being truthful with us. It started with the little memos to other countries assuring them that his positions on issues concerning NAFTA were rhetoric and there is nothing for them to be concerned about. He is so full of himself that he has already replaced the American Flag with his own little symbol. He is definitely following the pattern of the egomaniacal dictators we have studied in our history classes (and some of us have fought great wars against).
Please do your research and try hard not to forget history. Our country practices a policy of the "here and now" and does not seem to want to acknowledge facts learned from history. Obama is tied to the Democratic Socialists of America. Learn about it. Learn about what socialism is and how it has affected other nations. America is already moderately communist. The climate seems almost ready for someone like Obama to ripen and take over. He is not all things to all men. He is all things to himself and we, lovers of freedom, are begging those of you who are considering a vote for Obama, to DO YOUR RESEARCH. Learn the truth about the history of the United States. We have to vote for the candidate that loves the true history of this country.
Times are hard and they are going to get worse. If I am going to die of starvation and exposure, I would rather do it knowing that I had the opportunity to raise my children to not be afraid of what people think about what they believe. I don't want to die knowing that there were a few power-crazed people who took over our free country and forced the entire nation into poverty and oppression by forcing us to believe the way of the world. The devil has this world. Without what little freedom we have left, the generations that follow will lose their souls. We must not be afraid of a little discomfort (or even a great discomfort) at the cost of freedom. We can be hungry for a little while. It is a small price to pay for freedom.
"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
~Patrick Henry
"Babywearing" December 3, 2007
A while back, I received a note from a young woman who had sent a picture showing her "wearing her baby." I found that to be an odd way to put it, and chuckled a little.
Over recent months, however, I have discovered that this is a term commonly used and in fact, there are babywearing societies.
Babywearing.
Baby WEARING.
When I was young, our next door neighbor was at one point 14 years old. Her friends began to get pregnant and it seemed the fashionable thing to do. So at 14, my young neighbor joined the club. She did not know who the father was, but in this club, it did not matter because everyone was getting a baby. All that mattered was getting a baby and having this little prize to tote around and show off.
Even at that young age, I was perceiving that these young women viewed babies as an accessory.
"Babywearing" is an alarming term. We wear our clothes, socks, and underwear, and we wear jewelry. We wear our hair in different styles and some of us wear makeup. We wear nailpolish and we decide what shoes and belts to wear that will go with the style of the day. What is being described here is how we decorate ourselves to create a certain public perception. "Babywearing" feels like we took the child off of a hook in the closet and put "it" on.
I am surprised that this is a term used so frequently by mothers. YES, I understand that mothers are busy people. I understand that we need to have 3 sets of hands on two of us who are in different places at the same time to complete all of the work that needs to be done. We need eyes in the back of our heads, and lassos as well as cookbooks, all-purpose cleaners, and plenty of hot water. Life is frantic. How many of us at one point or another have felt at least a little pain for not giving the children more attention? Do we think that if we "wear" our child that we are somehow now giving the child that attention? I say CERTAINLY NOT. When I put my drawers on I don't think about them anymore. When mothers use this term "babywearing" it actually feels more cold-blooded than if she would have just said, "I didn't have time to pay much attention to Johnny yesterday." There is no motherly warmth in the term at all. "I was extremely busy yesterday, so I had to put Johnny on."
I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty. Parents feel enough guilt as it is. And I certainly am not anti-baby carrier. I just would like folks to stop diminishing children and making them seem like accessories. Baby carriers are TOOLS to get you through that tight spot when the nap, the dinner, and the last minute carpool arrangements are all due at the same time. The carriers are the extra hands mothers have always wanted. They allow the freedom of movement to get that child to sleep or to just hold him when he's sick because everyone else still needs to eat supper and go places. It is a tremendous stress reliever. I appreciate my baby carrier, but I can't stand that term "babywearing."
What would you like your mother to say about the days when you were young?
"I used to wear you wherever I went."
Maybe it feels better to hear her say, "I can remember cradling you close to me..."
~ GG