2010 Politics in Review by the MOMocrats: President Obama's Trial by Fire

I think there's a musty old law somewhere that impels media outlets to produce some kind of year in review piece each end of December -- or maybe it's just an easy topic to riff on when all you really want to do is recover from one holiday while preparing for the next. At any rate, Karoli and I did our own Year in Review episode on this week's MOMocrats MOMochat radio show.

I prepared for the show by highlighting some of the posts here on the MOMocrats website for 2010, and even though I remember all of these events, I was surprised to see they had all occurred THIS YEAR. And what a year it's been.

Karoli summed up 2010 as "President Obama's Trial by Fire":

JANUARY

• Health care reform had still not passed by the time of the State of the Union (for some reason, I had been remembering HCR as a 2009 endeavor - maybe because it took ALL of 2009 before spilling into the first quarter of this year).

• Supreme Court hands down Citizens United ruling

• Scott Roeder convicted for murder of Dr. George Tiller

• James O’Keefe caught and arrested for dirty tricks at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office

• A 7.0 earthquake devastates Haiti

Imagine, by John Lennon. 1940-1980.

The good leave us too soon.

 

[Unembeddable link, you'll have to click to see what it is.]

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Remembering Elizabeth Edwards

In the Summer of 2007, I attended my first BlogHer convention.  I had been blogging for about a year and had just begun flirting with writing about politics.  I had very firm opinions about everything from women's rights to foreign policy, but I wasn't a political blogger.  Oh no.  Why would anyone listen to what I had to say about politics?

But at BlogHer 2007, sitting in an audience of women (and a few men), I listened to Elizabeth Edwards talk about politics, her battle with breast cancer, and the power of women online, and all of that started to change.

I had supported John Edwards from my cozy armchair during his presidential run in 2004. I supported him again during the Democratic primary in 2008. And shortly after BlogHer in 2007, I heard that a group of women I greatly admire were starting a political blog for mothers supporting John Edwards for president. I asked pleaded begged to be a part of it.  And all of a sudden, I was a MOMocrat.

I don't want to revise history.  Despite the fact that John Edwards turned out to be a complete asshat and a poor excuse for a human being, leading up to the 2008 primary he was the only one talking about the issues that mattered most to me.  He was the first Democratic candidate to come up with a comprehensive health care reform plan and his talk of "Two Americas" brought the plight of poverty in the US to light.  Poverty isn't something that politicians like to talk about.  Not a lot of poor people are out there making political donations and their advocates don't have a lot of money either. But John and Elizabeth Edwards were acting as the voice for the people in this country who need it most.  I admired that.  I still do.

Elizabeth Edwards inspired me to write about my convictions. She inspired me to become a MOMocrat, to let my voice as a mother, a woman and a citizen be heard. I like to remember the time I had a chance to participate in a conference call with Ms. Edwards. (Some of my lucky fellow MOMocrats in California got to meet with her in person.)  Here's an excerpt from my blog post after the call:

I was on the conference call on my cell phone parked at my laptop in the dining room.  My husband has been transferring the contents of said laptop to an external hard drive for the last 3 days, so I was grounded, so to speak, unless I disconnected the hard drive and undid all of T's hard work.  I couldn't lock myself in the bedroom away from the chaos created by two small boys.

During the introductions, I accidentally un-muted my cell phone.  Of course, H&H began screaming and running around on cue.  I didn't realize that anyone could hear them until Elizabeth said "Whoever has the kids in the background, don't shut them up!  I might have to bring my own in here too."  Everyone laughed while I was staring at my cell phone in horror and frantically pushing the mute button! 

Of course, I got over my embarrassment immediately.  This was a conference call with mothers.  Elizabeth is a mother too.  She and my fellow mom bloggers certainly weren't going to judge me for showing a bit of humanity.

Elizabeth Edwards helped me to realize that as a mother I have a special point of view, an important one, and that I have an obligation to make my country what I want it to be.  On that call, she said, "We don't get the change we want unless we're willing to work for it." Elizabeth talked about not just making this a better America, but about creating a better world.

Today, Elizabeth Edwards died. And all of us, but particularly those of us here at MOMocrats, have lost a source of hope and inspiration.

She changed me.  I know she changed all of us.  My hope is that Elizabeth, and her children, realized just how much of an impact she had on so many people.  She really did work to create a better world and all of us owe it to her to keep on fighting for our beliefs.

Stephanie Himel-Nelson also blogs as Lawyer Mama and now works to change the world in her own way as a Communications Director for a nonprofit.

Rest in Peace, Elizabeth Edwards

Heartbreaking news. Just one day after she posted what would be her final Facebook status update, Elizabeth Edwards has died. Here is the message she left for us:

You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces -- my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn't possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel towards everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.

Elizabeth Edwards was a woman of simple acts, enormous heart and an amazing intellect. She stood up to everything life handed her and still managed to make room to help others. There are no words to express the sense of loss I have as a woman, a parent and a citizen. She never gave up. Never.

Her final words were a testimony to her tenacity and heart. It was something she lived every single day. During the 2008 campaign when the MOMocrats had an opportunity to meet with her, she said this:

It's not about the guy, it's about the vision. If that's the vision you want, you have to go out and do something. You cannot sit on your hands and expect the change to happen.

Words to live by. In her memory, let's go out and do something. Let her inspire you to make change as a living memorial to her passion for us all.

Watch This, Congress. Then Extend the Damn Unemployment Benefits, Now.

Why is this even being debated? When unemployment is high, Congress has always voted to extend unemployment insurance for those unlucky people who have been laid off.

What's different about this Congress? The numbers of Republicans who I seem to recall campaigned with slogans like "Country First," but are now dragging their feet on a yes vote for the extension of unemployment. Who are these petty, greedy people who are simultaneously holding up other business in Congress for a tax cut that only millionaires will enjoy?

Call them now and give them a piece of your mind: 877-662-2889. Pass unemployment benefit extensions, NOW.

 

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

A Word On Bi-Partisanship

Man, who ever thought it would be so hard being in charge?  Seriously.  It's become quite apparent that the Democrats have a serious case of minority-party PTSD as, with the exception of a hand full of brave souls, they seem capable of doing little more than cowering in the corner while Boehner and McConnell continue to steal their lunch money.

And all the while the drumbeat of criticism levied at President Obama about his push toward "bi-partisan" solutions has grown louder as even reasonable minded Democrats seem about ready to abandon this presidency and resign themselves to handing the keys back over to the GOP.  I'll admit, I'm on that ledge.  But let's consider this.  What if bi-partisanship is not about Republican support, but about trying to wrestle in the remaining Reagan Democrats in Congress?

Look at who is consistently blocking Democratic initiatives, for example.  Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a perfect case study.  Now, as a Nebraskan I can speak a bit to Nelson and he is a classic Nebraska Democrat.  If the Republicans were not so blatant in their racism he'd (and most his voters) would be Republicans.  Same with Evan Bayh.  Unless the Democrats were to get real comfortable with the idea of passing every piece of legislation via reconciliation (which would be far too brass-knuckled for the delicate constitutions of Democrats), President Obama needed to find a way to maintain 60 votes, and keep up appearances of Democratic unity.  That's a political quagmire if one ever existed.

But so what?  What do we do now that the Republicans control the House and have pledged to block every piece of legislation the Democrats introduce (save, of course, tax cuts, OBVIOUSLY).  Do we let them, as some on the left have suggested and let the American people see them for the obstructionists that they are?  Sounds tempting, but I'm starting to think that's too sophisticated for our current political media and most voters.  Sigh.

Or, do we take the tactic of our President and work to get SOMETHING passed, knowing that something is better than nothing and it is easier to build on legislation than to pass it?  That's what we did with health care reform and financial services reform.  It's also what we did with civil rights legislation.  Our first Civil Rights Act was pretty meager.  Over time it got better.  I suspect the same will be true with the Affordable Care Act, presuming the Democrats (and a few sane Republicans) find the will to beat back the impulse to cave to the quick and conservative-media driven narrative that the bill is garbage.

So, I guess what I'm saying is let's not give up, no matter how dark and how cold our political climate may be right now.  And lets resist the urge to punish one man for the failings of Congress and keep in mind that legislative change happens incrementally, and often is a process of two steps forward, one step back.  We'll get there, and President Obama can still bring us there, but not if we expect miracles and victories at every turn and in every year.