(warning… this discussion, while treated in an adult fashion, contains reference to words we do not like to hear from our youngsters. Please read it yourself before allowing them to read it, as well)
There is a brouhaha brewing in the White House. Yeah, I know… “ho hum, what else is new?” It IS getting tedious, isn’t it?
Still, there’s a controversy afoot, and I’m interested in your take. It is yet another case of “To PC or Not to PC”.
On or about January 25, Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff, uttered the phrase “f-ing retarded,” either in reference to the people he was in meeting with (according to Sarah Palin’s Facebook Notes) or in reference to the idea of exposing Obama’s failures on the healthcare issue (according to the Wall Street Journal).
I have to wonder why this has not yet been blown up to the scandal that President Bush faced when he swore in front of an open mike (2006), or the professionally fatal blow delivered to Trent Lott over comments made at a roast honoring Strom Thurmond’s 100th Birthday.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to not be subject to yet another scandal – Lord knows we’ve had enough of them – but I have to wonder why.
To my knowledge, President George W. Bush swore once in public. He was excoriated for it, because it was “unpresidential” and he “should have known” that “any mike is a live mike.” We endured at least a week of shocked reporters discussing Vice President Cheney’s invitation to Senator Leahy to “f-himself”. But now, it seems like we hear about the potty-mouth tendencies of this administration with disturbing frequency:
Rahm Emanuel says that an idea/group of people are “f’ing retarded”
Van Jones calls Republicans “a-holes”
Joe Biden says, “give me a f’ing break” on a live mike (“I didn’t know it was live”) in a March, 2009 meeting about Amtrak
President Obama calls Kanye West a “jackass”
Why is there no uproar? Why is there no serious call for public apology, followed by a stint in rehab? Yes, Mr. Emanuel made a private phone call to Tim Shriver, CEO of Special Olympics, apologizing for the remark. Apparently, we are being asked to accept that the privately issued apology is enough. But it wasn’t enough for Bush, Cheney or Lott.
The only difference I see here is that most of the potty-mouthed incidents from the current administration are said in public, sometimes in press conferences (the Kanye statement), whereas the previous administration uttered most of their profanity
I do not have virgin ears. I am not saying that there should be no profanity at all. I’m an adult. I swear plenty, and I know that other adults swear plenty, as well. The difference is, I know the difference between acting in a professional manner – which includes finding substitutes for profane words when I’m in a public or professional situation – and swearing in an empty house when I stub my toe or trip over the dog.
Yeah, I know the answer, even as I ask the question. That was then, this is now. “They” were Republicans, these guys are Democrats.
Personally, I’m not sure that Mr. Emanuel should be fired over this comment. The word “retarded,” as politically incorrect as it is now, has been part of the vernacular as long as I can remember. I don’t know if it rises to the seriousness of the “n-word”, as Sarah Palin alleges, although I’m not quite sure why the “n-word” is as heinous as everyone makes it out to be. Perhaps that’s because I know and understand that words are only harmful if they’re used as weapons. There are plenty of occasions where any word that can be construed as “hate speech” can be used in an innocuous way. But in this atmosphere of Political Correctness, every word must be chosen with the utmost care, because every word that’s on “the list” is forbidden in any situation regardless of the context.
So, this long rant brings me back to my original question: Should Rahm Emanuel be fired for referring to people as “f-ing retarded”? (because I know plenty of you think he should be fired for other reasons).
Well, it’s the Morning After, and I’m sitting here thinking, “THAT’S what we were arguing about? THAT’S the big, nasty, controversial ‘Tebow-ProLife Ad’??? You have GOT to be kidding me.”
To catch up, in the last two weeks, the internet has been abuzz about the commercial made by Tim Tebow and his mother, sponsored by Focus on the Family. The ad, starring QB Tim Tebow and his mom, Pam, featured Pam reflecting on her difficult pregnancy, and ultimately admitting that she still worries over “her baby”. The ad wraps with a black screen bearing the white-lettered message, “For the full Tebow story, go to Focus on the Family.com. Celebrate Family. Celebrate Life.”
This is the “massive controversy” that has been burning up the internet wires these last two weeks. The “controversy” which played itself out on sports boards and parenting boards alike, with each group dividing in half, taking sides, and slinging words like “hate” and “murder”.
All because a woman says that she worries over her son.
The interesting thing to me is this: Nobody saw the ad before it aired during yesterday’s game. Planned Parenthood went so far in their opposition to the commercial that they created a “rebuttal” to it, which featured Sean James (RB, Vikings) and Al Joyner (Olympic Gold Medalist, Track) talking all about how it’s the woman’s right to choose, and that men must trust women to make the right choice. They rebutted an ad that they had never even seen!
I also find it interesting that CBS took all kinds of crap for not airing the ad for the gay dating site, Mancrunch.com (all three can be viewed in this article). CBS’s stance on the ad was that it did not meet their standards and that the credit of the company was in question. Frankly, my personal opinion is that the Mancrunch.com ad was riding the coattails of the Tebow controversy, and was never meant to run during the game. They didn’t need to buy commercial time, they got plenty of attention in the run-up. Brilliant strategy, if you ask me. I have to wonder if they even submitted the commercial with the intent of actually following through.
But the point here is this: who are we, as a country and a people, that we get to this level of screaming and insult-hurling over a commercial whose content is completely unknown? Why do we let ourselves be drawn into this kind of debate when the facts aren’t even on the table? Are we this insecure with ourselves as a society that we can’t even allow an opposing point of view to be heard?
Here’s a little conversation that took place one day on Facebook with the names taken off to protect the innocent.
A friend of mine put this:
I need help. What do you do with kids that don’t like what you make for supper? Do you make them something different or do they get nothing else? Very puzzled and sick of everybody complaining. This one likes this and the other doesn’t. I quit, where’s the take out menu!!!
Someone else:
don’t make them something special. I never did. If my kids didn’t like what I made they would have to make their own (and clean it up). yes they ate a few PB sandwiches.. (Peanut butter sandwiches are good for you.) But no junk food b4 bed!!! worked for me.
Someone else:
i still follow the not anything different rule. they’ve gotten better
Someone else:
Here’s the scoop Lori listed above ate everything in sight when she was young and I on the other hand didn’t. My loving mom would always make me something that I did like or when she would make things like hot dish she would put it all together but the hamburger then she would dish me a plate and then add the hamburger to the rest of it. I ate a lot of grilled cheeses when I was young cause I was never a big meat eater. Do what works for you but remember, don’t let them fill up on junk foods. Even a peanut butter sandwich is better than nothing…..
I said this:
Boy, I don’t know. I let my boys make something if they didn’t like supper but I didn’t do it. They are both grown and the oldest one is still fussy. His poor wife. The youngest used to eat almost anything and is still like that. I’m not sure you outgrow that. Just out of curiosity, would you eat something you didn’t like? I hate it when kids won’t try something new but if I know it’s something they “really” don’t like, yes, I let them make spaghettio’s or something.
Someone else:
I have the same problem!! I have tried “tough love”, they don’t eat anything-I hate that!! Tell me the answer if you find it please!!
I will usually let the child have a bowl of cereal but they have to at least try the food first. It’s generally my youngest who doesn’t like anything. My husband gets mad, but you can’t let your kids starve! Especially Kenzie – she hardly eats the way it is. But… I won’t make the cereal for her – she has to do it herself.
I said I’d put it here on the blog and see what you all had to say. Did you make your kids eat or did you let them eat something else if they didn’t like what you made for supper?
I came upon this recipe while reading one of my magazines the other afternoon and since we are all trying to eat a little better and healthier, I thought I’d share it with you.
We are big fans of The Biggest Loser and this is from the host of that show, Alison Sweeney.
Broil chicken with dash of olive oil and lemon slices on top for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the chicken halfway through and squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken. Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.
When chicken is almost done broiling, drop green beans in boiling water and boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Strain green beans, taking them out while they’re still bright green and crispy. Toss them into a bowl with 1 tbsp of olive oil, crumbled feta and chopped tomato. You want the green beans to still be warm when yu do this to melt the cheese slightly. If desired, slice the 1/2 avocado and add it in.
When chicken is done, cut into pieces and toss is with green bean mixture.
The only thing I think I’ll do differently is cook the green beans a little bit longer. I can’t eat green beans while they are still crispy.
I think this will be one post that everyone will be able to comment on! I’m pretty sure we all use it, we all buy it, and we all hate doing it! It’s a never ending cycle that usually falls on to one person for one reason or another. It’s a chore that must be done, whether it’s every day or just once a week…it’s the laundry!
I don’t mind doing the laundry. Sometimes I forget that I’ve started the washer and it goes through a whole cycle with an empty drum, but overall I don’t get worked up over it! What I hate about laundry is folding it and putting it away! Why can’t it just go from the dryer to the drawer in one sweep and fold itself mid-air along the way? Wouldn’t that be great? What got me thinking about this in the first place was my last trip to the grocery store.
For the most part we do our shopping at Walmart. Yes, I know. It’s not my favorite place either, but when you’re buying cleaning stuff, toiletries, etc it’s the cheapest place to go. Anyway, on my last trip for this stuff I had to get laundry soap and unfortunately, they didn’t have the size I normally get. As I scanned the shelves, I noticed that our brand came in a *NEW* smaller container with more ‘Concentrated Power, Use Less” plastered on the bottle. So, instead of the 2x ultra I normally get, I got the 3x ultra. According to the bottle I was suppose to get 96 loads out of the thing. The same number of loads I’m suppose to get from the 2x ultra bottle.
I get home and place my new laundry bottle on the dryer next to the old bottle that was almost empty and start to wonder how many loads I actually get out of a jug of laundry soap to begin with. So began my experiment. When I started the new 3x ultra (smaller) bottle of laundry soap, I started keeping track of how many loads of laundry I was doing and tallying it on the side of the bottle. To make sure I was accurate, I read the instructions and filled the little cup to the correct line and used that for each load.
First thing that I noticed was that the prices for each container are the same! The 2x ultra container that has 150 oz cost $10.64 at Walmart. The 3x ultra container that has 96 oz cost $10.64 at Walmart. WTH? Second thing I noticed really pissed me off. The little cups that come on the jugs that also act as the cap, were the same size on both the 2x ultra container and 3x ultra container! The SAME SIZE! Tell me oh wise people, if the measuring cup is exactly the SAME for a container that has 54 oz LESS laundry soap, how am I going to still get 96 loads out of that container? Hmmm? Anyone, anyone??! I still have to use the same amount of laundry soap per load whether it’s 2x concentrated or 3x concentrated! Third thing I noticed was how much laundry I actually do in one week! Holy crap! I was doing 5 loads of laundry some days and I do laundry throughout the week! I don’t save it all for one day! When the 3x ultra concentrated container was empty of it’s 96 fl oz that I was suppose to still get 96 loads out of, I had only done 85 loads.
Hmmm, now I’m no genius, but I’d say this is one great marketing scam! I’m sure someone was given a huge bonus for figuring this out and knowing that America would fall for it! Their slogan should be, “3x ultra concentrated so you think you need less when really you’re getting less, paying the same price and using the same amount so you need to buy more sooner than you would have so we make more money”! Use less my butt!
There is a brouhaha brewing in the White House. Yeah, I know… “ho hum, what else is new?” It IS getting tedious, isn’t it?
