My expulsion from Kindergarten carries lessons today

When I was 5 years old, I was expelled from Kindergarten. Twice. I don't remember what the first expulsion was for, but the second one remains a family legend to this day. Because truly, not everyone gets kicked out of Kindergarten. Twice.

There's a child's rhyme that has hand gestures. The rhyme goes like this:

Here's the church (hands locked together)
Here's the steeple (index fingers up, the rest of the fingers still locked)
Open the door (thumbs out)
And out come the people! (flip locked hands so fingers and palms up)

Cute, huh? Only, I'd been taught the rhyme with a bit of a twist. My version went like this, and I shared it with my entire class. From the front of the room.

Here's the church
Here's the steeple
Open the door
And out come the HYPOCRITES!

Did I mention that my mom was paying an enormous amount of money to send me to a private church school? They might have forgiven me. They might have patted me on the head and told me to nevernevernever say that rhyme that way ever again.

But instead, they asked me if I knew what a hypocrite was. The thing is, I did.

My mother's hippie-radical brother had come down from UC Berkeley and taught me the full meaning of the rhyme and the word. So I dutifully and truthfully answered the teacher's question.

"A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another," I replied.

And just like that, I was expelled. I think I was probably expelled for life, but my mother managed to wring just enough sympathy out of the teachers and the headmaster to allow me to finish out the year, with the agreement that at the end of said year, I should find another school to attend. Really, that outcome was just fine with me...it was probably the most miserable introduction to education any kid could have. I was glad to let the door to that school hit my butt on the way out. So why am I spilling my dirtiest secrets here on MOMocrats?

I'm still waiting for those defenders of children to defend them.

Image by andyofne via Flickr

Really, this just goes beyond the pale. Picketing the school where our President's children attend with racist, threatening, hateful signs?

Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church is a hate group that goes around the country staging anti-gay rallies at some of the most inappropriate places (e.g. the funerals of former White House press secretary Tony Snow, victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, and U.S. troops) with messages like “Thank God For AIDS” and “God Hates Fags.”

I believe in the first amendment. I believe that speech, no matter how hateful and ugly, should not be suppressed. I also believe that allowing speech like this and last weeks' teaparty rally in DC to go unchallenged by those who claim to be 'defenders of liberty' is abhorrent.

A cry for help

Here's the letter I faxed to my representatives. I understand they pay more attention to handwritten letters than emailed or typed letters. Click for the large version. It's my last shot at trying to get them (especially Rep. Gallegly and Senator Feinstein) to get a clue about how desperate we are. $4,700 - colonoscopy. $500/mo, ongoing supplies/meds. Health care reform I can actually afford? Priceless. All we have now is a train wreck.

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Right wingnuttery: Impeach Obama because Republicans don't like him?

I  just got off the phone with far-right wingnut Floyd Brown and FOX Radio host Alan Colmes about Brown's newest campaign: impeachment of President Obama. Ordinarily I wouldn't give this guy any attention at all, but since he was on Alan Colmes' Fox Radio show, I figured it was my duty to put a bit of counterspin on the insanity this man spews all over the networks and Internet.

Who is Floyd Brown?  Simply put, Floyd Brown rests in the heart and bowels of the Republican party as the engine formulating the poison that is farted all over Fox News, astroturf sites, and so-called right-wing news sites. Wherever he goes, noxious fumes follow.

Sen. Kyl, Family Research Council: Flip-Floppers on Families

We all know that Republicans are pro-family, right? After all, whenever there are cameras on they're more than willing to beat their breasts and wail loudly to anyone who will listen over the modern decline of 'the family', especially when they can blame progressives.

As Senator Kyl proved in today's markup session on the Baucus health care reform proposal, all their support for families evaporates rapidly when it bumps into influence, lobbying, and a little help from the extremists over at the Family Research Council.

From today's session, this tasty tidbit:

KYL: I don’t need maternity care, and so requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don’t need and will make the policy more expensive.

STABENOW: If I could just interject once with my colleague — I think your mom probably did. (LAUGHTER)

KYL: Over 60 years ago my mom did. (LAUGHTER) You notice I wasn’t too specific with regard to that.

Go Listen: BlogHer Call with Senator Amy Klobuchar on Health Care Reform

BlogHer recently hosted a conference call on health insurance reform with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. MOMocrats writers Karoli, Jaelithe and Joanne participated in the call, which included several BlogHer members with various backgrounds and political opinions, and was moderated by Nancy Watzman from the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan organization dedicated to improving government transparency

Senator Klobuchar, a Democrat, a mother, and one of only 17 women Senators currently serving in Congress, supports health care reform and has expressed a preference for a plan that would end exclusions for pre-existing condition, include a health insurance exchange that would allow small businesses and independent contractors to use collective bargaining power to access lower health insurance prices, and include a public option that would give Americans the choice of buying into a non-profit government-run insurance plan.

During the call, the Senator discussed her views on the best ways to reduce health care costs for both consumers and the government, spoke about the need to provide better support to families caring for elderly relatives, and expressed her outrage at learning that some private insurance companies have been denying coverage to victims of domestic violence.

Senator Klobuchar also talked about ways that ordinary citizens who support health care reform can help make a difference by promoting reform in their own communities.

Visit the BlogHer website to listen to the BlogHer conference call with Senator Amy Klobuchar or read a partial transcript. And don't forget to check back next week for a BlogHer conference call with Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Dear Max Baucus: Get out of my way

That's right, Senator Max Baucus. I'm talking to YOU. Let me tell you a little about the past 30 days of my life.

You see, I have this kid. He's a good kid. A great kid, in fact. He's my birthday present...born on my 31st birthday at 1:11pm (13:11 if you're number superstitious). He's really talented, too. He produced his first CD this summer, which he considers to be the beginning of his long and productive musical career.

For the past month, he's been really, really sick. He can't keep food in him, is in constant middle-bending just-shoot-me kind of pain, and has lost 20 pounds (he only weighed 165 to begin with). 

Health Care Vigil in Thousand Oaks: My side of the story

Yes, I was at the health care vigil tonight in Thousand Oaks. Yes, I saw what happened, though it was from across a very large street. I can't tell you who said what to who, but I will tell you what the mood was, what I saw, who instigated things, and what I photographed.

What I won't do: I won't publish the pictures I took of the confrontation. I didn't capture anything other than the people in various states of verbal confrontation, and I have turned those over to the police. Because they are investigating, I won't compromise it by publishing those pictures unless and until they give me permission. I will, however, publish my other photos which will include some taken before this incident occurred.

Hear my story: COBRA bites

A year ago, I'd have told you that although things weren't perfect, life was pretty darn good. With one kid paying his own way through college, the other adult kid gainfully employed, and our daughter heading into her freshman year of high school, my husband and I were beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We had started thinking about the possibility of traveling a bit, upgrading our townhouse, and socking away more toward retirement. Despite my angst over turning 50, things were looking pretty good.

We're both self-employed, though I had a second full-time job working for a large, solid web company as their blog editor. I was getting rave reviews, our community was growing rapidly, and as far as I knew, things were solid. I'd gone to work for them in 2000 to cover the cost of my health insurance, because it was much too expensive for me to manage as a self-employed person.