Our Nation is Making this Huge Mistake

A year ago, we learned Ella, then age 5, had a genetic disorder called 22Q11 deletion syndrome.  She had a very rough start to her educational career, but eventually she adjusted, I stopped crying all the time, and we got the support we needed (aids and special ed teachers for Ella; therapist for Holly!) 

Ella’s week is divided into speech classes, OT classes, PT classes, and, of course, learning in her inclusion classroom.  She also takes a dance class once a week and has started piano lessons.  She reads at grade-level.  Writing and expressive communication are difficult for her.  Ella has trouble with abstract concepts.  Math?  Have you seen the way they’re teaching math now?  Ella has trouble with math.

Ben (age 8) has trouble in math as well.  He does not read through word problems carefully, resulting in the right answer to whatever problem he’s imagined in his head.  Unfortunately, that answer rarely matches the intended answer.  When he does understand the question, he often goes about solving the problem in a very unique Ben way, which is not the way he was taught in class, but at least it renders a correct answer. His teacher doesn’t freak out about it.  She says Ben likes to do things his own way.  

“If you look at a deaf child, their language development traditionally lags that of a typical child’s. And you had to adapt. Now, with Common Core, these kids might have to adapt to the standards. Who knows! It’s like a black-hole, and there are no specifics and it’s a huge concern for parents of special-needs kids. How in the world are you going to have common, uniform standards that will address the needs of such a varied population of students.”  Clash Over Common Core

I see Ben struggle with the new and weird way they are teaching math.  And I see his teacher struggle with trying to adapt to the Common Core standards while allowing her students to learn in the way that works for them.  Ben has no learning disabilities.  He is a bright kid: he has a expansive vocabulary, is musically gifted, is very artistic, and is very cute. Unfortunately, he has inherited his mother's complete apathy regarding the subject of math.  He is struggling and comes home with low test scores.  I swear, the government has found the most convoluted way to teach math skills under the pretense of insisting that kids should completely understand WHY sixteen divided by four is four.  Which I understand, to an extent.  Solving a math problem can be a process: giving points for correct procedure while negating points for an ultimate wrong answer seems fair.  It's how I got through those pesky New York State Regents exams.  However, abstract problem solving is a skill that many third graders have not yet developed.  Third grade is the grade where kids are encouraged to move from concrete to abstract thinking.  But the Common Core doesn't include those kids who haven't yet made the leap.

The promo material for Common Core also rubs me the wrong way. A video touts the competitive nature of education and how kids need to learn to the same level so they can go head-to-head with kids across the country and around the world. Gotta beat those whizzes in Shanghai! But kids aren't all members of Team America and they're not factory widgets—they're individuals who learn in different ways and at different paces.  Common Core Leave Out Consideration for the Kids

Parents: Even if your child’s school is following Common Core, reject CCSSI’s approach.  Buy a set of flash cards and drill the times tables into your child’s head over the summer, before she begins the third grade. A Critical Analysis of Common Core Math Standards

I am worried for Ben.  So you can only imagine the anxiety I have for Ella.

The first grade math papers Ella and Daniel bring home are already far more advanced than the ones Caleb brought home just four years ago.  Ella brings home papers that say 100% on them.  These papers are always marked with the words, "with help."  When she does a worksheet on her own, she might get one out of ten answers correct, and it is possible the correct answer was a fluke.  

The Common Core Standards are a set-up for national standardized tests, tests that can’t evaluate complex thought, can’t avoid cultural bias, can’t measure non-verbal learning, can’t predict anything of consequence (and waste boatloads of money).

The word “standards” gets an approving nod from the public (and from most educators) because it means “performance that meets a standard.” However, the word also means “like everybody else,” and standardizing minds is what the Standards try to do. Common Core Standards fans sell the first meaning; the Standards deliver the second meaning. Standardized minds are about as far out of sync with deep-seated American values as it’s possible to get.  Eight Problems with Common Core Standards

Ella has a diverse classroom.  There are children with various learning disabilities, children from low-income homes, and children who are advanced learners.  And yet they're all striving toward the same common standards.  If they don't meet the common standard? It is likely Ella will be pushed into the second grade anyway, without having mastered first grade math.  I am dreading the third grade move from concrete thinking to abstract thinking.  

Yes, her IEP allows her some flexibility.  But most recent books and articles about the Common Core and kids with learning disabilities discuss aligning a student's IEP with the Common Core.  In an article entitled "Implementing the Common Core Standards for Students with Learning Disabilities," the author states that "the challenges lie in ensuring that students with disabilities will have the supports, services, accommodations, and modifications they need to realize the same educational benefit that all other students receive."  As if there's some magical strategy that will help Ella suddenly understand math and expressive communication.  

If the old adage is true—that a society can be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens—then putting the common standards into practice carries the specter of a judgment about educational opportunity in the United States.  A Common-Core Challenge: Learners With Special Needs

Ella's teachers are wonderful, but they are now subject to a national standard.  Who are we, as parents, supposed to appeal to?  Ella is floundering, and she doesn't even realize it yet.  Because her genetic syndrome varies greatly from case to case, I can't know how she will perform academically in the future. Her speech has greatly improved in just a year.  Will her abstract thinking improve?  Will she succumb to psychological problems, like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, as many with 22Q do?  Will she ever be able to have an actual career?  Get married?  Become a parent?  Live on her own?  Because she has trouble with expressive language, I don't know how much information sinks in when she reads a book or participates in a conversation.  I know that she, currently, cannot meet the standards of the Common Core at this time.  

But that doesn't mean she isn't capable of doing other things really, really well.  She is generous and friendly and sensitive to other people's feelings.  She is creative and artistic, and loves dance and gymnastics.  She has a genuine love of learning: she listens intently as the zookeeper explains why the Rochester zoo penguins don't actually swim in the water they're provided with.  She loves to bake, although she takes a very Amelia Bedelia approach to it.  One cup of flour = any old cup that happens to be around, thank you very much. 

Now I'm not one to run around bragging about my little special snowflakes, but, dammit, my kids are special snowflakes and the government is turning each of them into ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL.

I read a good defense of government-sponsored healthcare.  The individual wrote that Americans have happily partaken in government-sponsored education for decades because we believe so strongly in every child's right to an education.  Why, then, don't we embrace the idea of allowing every child (and adult) access to adequate healthcare?  Life, liberty and happiness, after all.  There's consistency in that logic.

But Obamacare, quite frankly, is this huge disaster.  

I don't have much hope for the Common Core, either.  

There must be a better way.

From around the state and throughout our districts, parents and teachers are raising concerns in regard to the Common Core Standards and children with special needs. In addition to these concerns, some of the requirements of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) also directly impact the ability of teachers to work with children with special needs. These children are often not working at their own grade level, and therefore should be exempted from most testing. A child’s IEP is a plan developed to help them learn outside the standardized methodology and curriculum, consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In that the IDEA is based upon the rights of a child with disabilities to receive an education appropriate to their disabilities and abilities, the application of Common Core Standards is not compatible with many of the provisions of the IDEA.  Common Core Fight Update

I am the Elite?

There is a chasm between stay-at-home moms and moms who work outside the home.  I’m not so naïve as not to recognize it.  I’ve (wrongly) bristled when working moms insist they “could never stay at home with their kids.  How do I do it?” and have been the object of polite oh that’s so nice statements followed by awkward silences after admitting I stay home with my kids.  What topics can one discuss with the stay-at-home mom?  Coupons, perhaps?  Toilet paper choices? 

Political strategist and pundit Hilary Rosen made a rather large flub when she accused Ann Romney, a (wealthy) stay-at-home mom of five boys of “never working a day in her life.”  She then said Mitt Romney has “very old fashioned views of women.”  Later, she clarified her statements, saying she wasn’t knocking stay-at-home moms, but rather exemplifying the large financial gap between working moms and Ann Romney.  I’m not going to linger on Rosen’s ad hominem attack on Ms. Romney- instead I’m going to transition to a blog post written by Hanna Rosin for Slate magazine entitled “No Apologies Necessary Hilary.”  I feel a comma before Hilary would’ve been appropriate, but whatever.  I generally enjoy Ms. Rosin’s writing- she writes for Slate and The Atlantic.  Last evening, however, she royally pissed me off when she wrote the following:

-there is no reason why we always have to use the "acceptable" formulation “work outside the home” every time we talk about mothers. We can admit that that’s an awkward phrase, and we can also admit that at this point staying home full time with your children is not only a choice but pretty much a luxury of the elite. And almost by definition makes it hard for you to relate to the average woman.

I, personally, had no idea that staying home with my kids was a sign of “elitism” on par with carrying a Prada purse and wearing Gucci sunglasses.  In my own experience, which I realize stands for nothing, many stay-at-home moms are lower-middle to middle class women who forgo higher-middle class status and “luxuries” in order to stay home with their kids.  They live in average neighborhoods, their husbands or partners earn average salaries, and they budget and buy from consignment shops and garage sales in order to save money. 

But since my personal experiences are generally worthless, let’s look at scientific data provided by the 2010 census:

Compared with other moms, stay-at-home moms in 2007 were more likely to be:

• Younger (44% were under 35 compared with 38% of mothers in the labor force).
• Hispanic  (27% compared with 16% in the labor force.)
• Foreign-born (34% compared with 19% of mothers in the labor force).
• Without a high-school diploma (19% versus 8% of mothers in the labor force).

Uneducated, young, foreign-born or Hispanic stay-at-home moms: the new definition of “elite.”  There you have it.

I can only guess that Rosin is implying that anyone who is not working-class, i.e. the lower-middle class to the uber-rich, is now a part of the “elite.”  And here I thought the middle-class families were the ones who were crumbling, the ones the presidential candidates are ardently promising to save. 

Truthfully, even if I wanted to work, the cost of daycare would not make that choice financially prudent.  Though my husband makes a lovely salary, when you take into account taxes and those pesky school loan payments, we are right smack dab in the middle of the middle class.  It’s still my choice not to work outside the home (I work part-time inside the home)- and that may very well change next year when the four rugrats are in school- but let me tell you what.  Having kids is expensive and emotionally taxing, whether or not you are a working mom or a stay at home mom.  We each wipe butts, worry about paying for college educations, stay up late nights when our kids are sick or have had a nightmare- we each have hopes and dreams for our kids, and none of us wants our daughters to become middle-aged divorcees struggling to make ends meet while raising three teenagers.  We are moms.  Why, Rosin, do you exacerbate the unnecessary rift between us?  Why do you make it sound like staying home is akin to yachting up and down the Mediterranean? 

For many middle-class moms, staying at home is a choice.  For others it is not.  Some days, staying at home with a cooing infant is a luxury.

Mostly, it’s just really hard work.

Caleb Gets Political

At the 4th of July parade Monday, passer-bys in floats threw candy at the hoards of children, who scurried to nab as many tootsie rolls and dum-dums as they could before older, larger children swooped in. In a moment I am not proud of, I actually stepped on the stick portion of a dum-dum before a rather fat, vulturous child could pick it up in order to give it to Ella, who had chosen that moment to stare blankly at the sky.

When we got home, Ella had four pieces of candy while Caleb had half a bag full. I combined all four bags of candy, put it in a large bowl, and have been rationing it out at various points during the day.

“That’s not fair," complained Caleb.  "That’s MY candy. Why are you doing that?”

“Well, it’s not fair that younger or slower kids should suffer because you were greedy and would not share. Sometimes moms have to even out the playing field. This is the decent thing to do."

“I think that’s communism, mom.”

What really concerned him was that I had chosen to become a communist on Independence Day of all days. I explained that I’m only a communist on parade days- and Halloween. The rest of the year, I aim for benevolent dictatorship.

“That’s fascism, mom.”

Whatever.

Happy 4th of July just the same!

Newspeak

I have a cell phone now. It’s a pay-as-you-go phone, $19 at Target. I put $25 on it and immediately spent $1.50 sexting my husband.

Holly’s first text to John: sex ha ha ha ha

Actually, my first text to him consisted of one letter: u. I forget what I was trying to write. Probably u r sexy or something. (And that’s about as sexy at my sexting is going to get.) But I couldn’t find the space button and accidentally spent $.50 sending the letter “u.”

Today’s texts brought to you by the letter… U!

I hate chat abbreviations. I still don’t know if lol is lots of laughs or laughing out loud. The problem with chat abbreviations is that there are a limited number of them, and as we continue to communicate mainly through texts, Twitter, and Facebook, our vocabulary becomes diminished. It’s like Newspeak in the novel 1984- a close relation to English but with greatly reduced vocabulary and grammar. I'm being a tad bit overdramatic.  Maybe. 

Everyone is embracing Newspeak.  Even potential world leaders. Have I ever told you how much I don’t like Sarah Palin? She grates on every fiber of my being. This is a person who wants to be a serious contender for president of the United States, yet she QUIT her job as governor of Alaska to… get rich. Not to spend more time with her family, but to travel the U.S. speaking for outrageous sums of money while promoting her book, Going Rogue.
When I published the dust-jacket of my book, which coincidentally has the same title as Palin's, I did NOT quit my job to promote it and get rich. Which makes me a better person than Sarah Palin.

Palin is a Twitterer. Here are a few gems:

“DCs new $50BILLION local govt bailout? The “spending freeze,pay-as-u-go,fiscal restraint” pledge was as believable as O’s a#*-kickin’outrage”

Dr.Laura:don't retreat ... reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")

Who hijacked term: 'feminist'? A cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women w/whom they disagree on a singular issue: it's ironic (& passé).

First of all, I can’t read this gibberish. Second of all, what’s a “cackle of rads?”

Her daughters, Bristol and Willow, are even more pointed as they slam a guy on Facebook for making some rather innocuous comments about the Palin family:

Bristol: You just run your mouth just so you'll get a reaction. You're a typical s**t talker. Talking s**t cause you have nothing else going for. Just like you pretended you didn't know what Dancing With the Stars was.

Willow: Haha your so gay. I have no idea who you are, But what I've seen picutres of, your disgusting... My sister had a kid and is still hot. Tre stfu. Your such a f****t.

Willow is sixteen. I know because I just looked it up. The sixteen year old daughter of a "writer" who is also the former governor of Alaska should know the difference between your and you’re. For that alone her mother should cancel her Facebook account. Not to do so is just bad parenting. I can throw judgment on other mothers because I’m a mom too, which makes me an expert on all things related and pertaining to parenting. And I resent the implication that having a kid makes most “not hot.” I’m sure the stars of 16 and Pregnant would agree with me.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show tore Palin apart based on the following nonsensical tweet:

Palin: Inexplicable: I recently won in court to stop my book "America by Heart" from being leaked,but US Govt can't stop Wikileaks' treasonous act?

Stewart on Palin’s tweet: "There is the fact that WikiLeaks is in Sweden, and its founder Julian Assange is Australian, so really you can't charge them with treason against America... Because they're not American,"

Finally, in moment where I definitely lol'd, Stewart recalled Abraham Lincoln’s Great Twittersburg Address:

HONEST_ABE: 4 scor & 7 yrs ago: nu nation, all men=!
 Now civil war :(. But! Not die in vain. Gr8 task b4 us: Gvt of- by4-ppl not perish frm earth!

Lincoln to Palin. Sigh.

Oldspeak was better.

The Post Where Holly Complains about the State of the State

Tuesday is election day, which is wonderful because I get to see my husband again.

I’m concerned some people out there are considering NOT voting- and I understand somewhat. I myself am going to have a hard time voting for:

a) The gubernatorial candidate who is against gay marriage but thinks people having sex with animals is e-mail worthy OR

b) The man who says he’s going to cut the budget but will inevitably raise taxes because he just can’t help himself. It’s just what Cuomos do.

State elections are just as important as federal elections. In fact, your local representatives make more decisions that affect your day-to-day life than your US senators.

Case in point:

You may not have heard, but NYS taxes are high. Supremely high. Nauseatingly high. Makes me want to move to the south high.

I was doing a little research, and I found a perfectly lovely home in a historic district in Savannah, GA. It has four bedrooms, four fireplaces, refinished wood floors, and oodles of charm. I calculated a 30-year mortgage with escrow (NO DOWN PAYMENT) and guess what? The monthly payment came to $120 less than our own payment. And the house costs more than twice what ours did.

We are a perfect example a middle class family considering moving to greener pastures because the taxes are strangling us. Middle-class New Yorkers pay nearly 40% of their income in taxes- and our property taxes are the highest in the entire country. Do you have any idea how much it costs to send a student to school for a year here in NYS? More than it does to send him or her to the BEST private schools in Rochester. $17,123/ student. 67% MORE than the national average. Yet, our kids’ standardized test scores and graduation rates are far below the national average.

Guess who spends the most on state welfare? If you guessed Nevada, you are incorrect. New Yorkers spend 78% more on welfare benefits than the national average.

In 1982, the New York State government declared a “war” on poverty by drastically increasing welfare benefits. Since then, the Empire state’s poverty level has significantly increased.

The poor are moving to New York in droves and the middle class are hightailing it to warmer climates.

The centre cannot hold.

The big election issues in NY this election season are: health care, education, and property taxes. New Yorkers have been throwing moolah at these issues for the past 30 years, and not only has it NOT helped, but the government has dug a hole that the state may never get out of.

Note: It is a huge misnomer to believe that people who want to cut taxes don’t give a crap about the elderly and the impoverished, and if you imply that’s what I believe, you have greatly insulted me and I will go to my room to sulk. I don’t wish to deprive ANYONE of health care. But I also think it’s inappropriate to use ambulances as taxis and to take your kid to the ER because he had a nosebleed. (This is based on a true story. The family next to us in the ER was there because their son, an 8-year old, had a minor nosebleed four hours earlier. They had taken an ambulance to get to the hospital. Why were we there? Ben stuck his hand in the vacuum while it was running and it appeared… disfigured. But that’s a completely different story.)

I also don’t wish to deprive anyone of a decent education, but frivolous programs should be cut. Teachers don’t need to attend conferences in Myrtle Beach. I’ve been to an educational conference. I suggest subscribing to an educational journal: same information, at 1/2000 of the cost.

Nor should taxpayers foot the bill for Buffalo teachers' cosmetic surgeries.  A $9 million bill.  Is that really so unreasonable?

Don’t get me started on the unions.

(I should totally rule the world. Obviously I have all the answers.)

How much are taxpayers supposed to sacrifice to support government programs that just don’t work? New York is taking blood faster than the body can recoup its loss. It’s not a matter of what’s fair and what isn’t- it’s a matter of what works and what doesn’t. You can’t take what’s not there.

So, if next year I’m writing a post from Savannah, you will know why.

On a final note- let gays marry.  Maybe then they'll stay in NY and contribute to the economy.

My new house?

Click here to find out who your local representatives are and to find other political information that will serve useful this coming Tuesday. Remember, you forfeit your right to complain about the state of the state if you don’t vote. Is that a right you really want to give up?

The polls open Tuesday. Be there.

Be Nice to Me. I Can Vote.

Recently, Ella has lifted her longstanding moratorium on not eating green foods. Last week, she ate green beans. Last night, she ate two large helpings of broccoli.

There was great rejoicing in the land. The possibilities for the future seem so hopeful now: Palestine vs. Israel? Peace is a workable option. A Beatles reunion? Why not? Death is but a small obstacle. A woman’s right to vote? Wait! That happened. Ninety years ago. Feels like yesterday.




I kid. I was not there. In fact, I rarely think much about it. I learned today was the anniversary from google. I did enjoy singing that song from Mary Poppins when I was little- the one sung by the flighty suffragette Mrs. Banks…

Our daughter’s daughters will adore us
And we’ll sing in grateful chorus…

She wasn’t really a great example of the fairer sex, come to think of it. Catchy tune, though.

English women got the full right to vote eight years after American women did. (It was, English historians explain, a process. Like Ella finally coming around and accepting green foods.)

So commemorate this day and to further exhibit my whitewashed feminist leanings, here are some links to help you embrace your right to vote, no matter your race, creed, or religion, as well as some links about how crappy women still have it, even in certain communities and cultures within America.

And for the record, I love men. Even though they’re hairy.

In fact, I often prefer to hang with men over women. Especially men who… I better stop now. My husband reads this.


Find your local congressman. Or woman.

Contact state and local government officials.

Ann Coulter is so cranky. And she says the dumbest things. I dislike her.

Read about Susan B. Anthony, and if you live in the Rochester-area, consider visiting her home! (Bring some pepper spray. It's kind of in the ghetto.)

Not all "feminists" are pro-choice.

Ban the Burka! A really great article.

Is there anything scarier than sex trafficking?

Female circumcision happens even in the States.

Every 21 days, someone in the U.S. dies as a result of domestic violence.


And just to prove how much I LOVE MEN I post this video "Cool Men Don't Look At Explosions." Because, I think I would totally look at the explosions. And also, as things were exploding, I would be stumbling around and flapping my arms and shrieking. Because I'm a girl. So I really respect you men who don't look at explosions.

The One Where She Admits She Was Probably Wrong

I’m a conservative with some liberal sensibilities. Which maybe you gathered. Like, for instance, my feminist leanings. And I abhor racism- to the point where my I allow my "white guilt" to obscure rational thinking.   And no, I'm not not saying that all conservatives are racists- of course not- nor am I saying that anti-racism is solely a liberal ideology- but there are undoubtedly a lot more "vocal"  racists who happen to be registered in the Conservative and Republican parties than in the Liberal and Democratic parties.  (I will even go so far to say that in its purest form, conservatism is probably the LEAST prejudicial political ideology.)

I hate when people make sweeping generalizations about Mexicans, African-Americans, Native-Americans, Jews, gays, or the Irish. And yes- I have heard people, seemingly decent, generous people with families and church affiliations, make horrible slurs against these groups of people. Even the Irish. (This person had been to Ireland once for three days and was therefore an expert on the people there.)

(It doesn’t bother me when someone makes a slur against the Icelandic people, however. Iceland and its stupid volcano messing up everyone’s travel plans. Keep your volcanoes under control, people. Unacceptable.)

So, anyway, I was peeved when I heard about the Arizona immigration law. I thought it would stir up problems, especially for Hispanic kids in public schools. After all, racist people only need a little bit of perceived backing from a higher authority to act like bigots publicly.

Perhaps this peevishness has stemmed from my own conception of the Mexican “illegal immigrant.” I see them as poor, taking on the jobs no one else can afford to take on, doing grueling work in the fields, living a nomadic existence, moving wherever the crops are ripe. (For an interesting look at just how arduous these jobs are, check out Tom Rivers’ book Farm Hands. And guess what. I KNOW HIM! And yesterday, I told everyone I knew him and that they should buy his book or I would run off with several Vera Bradley purses to sell on the black market when I spotted his books on display at Browns Berry Patch.)
So last night we were watching Training Day, starring the delectable Denzel Washington and the actor turned novelist Ethan Hawke. Denzel Washington plays a dirty cop who does business with drug lords, and Ethan Hawke plays the idealistic rookie cop whose random good deed saves his life.

Excellent film. Washington won an Oscar for it. A little to very violent.

After the movie was over, I determined again never ever to live in Los Angeles. Which probably won’t be very hard for me. There are a lot of gangs and drug dealers in LA. And, according to movies like L.A. Confidential, Training Day, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there’s a lot of corruption within the police departments. These things DO NOT happen within the great state of New York.

John started giving a boring lecture on the two major Mexican drug cartels. I do not know where he stores all of this random information in his brain. I really don’t. I can’t remember the plot of a book I read a month ago.

John asked me if I knew what city ranked number one for kidnappings in the world.

I guessed Mexico City. Turns out I was wrong. (It’s Cartagena, Colombia. I knew Colombia had problems thanks to the movie Romancing the Stone. Which is, apparently, still culturally relevant!) Mexico City isn’t even number two.

Phoenix, Arizona is number two. There were 370 kidnapping cases in 2008. And most all of them were drug related.

This is not something they told us in the MSNBC reports about Arizona’s new immigration law. I did not know they had closed down an Arizona national state park because of this problem. No one reported on the limbs people lost when kidnappers’ demands were not met. No one wrote about how these drug lords walk right across the border and brutally murder anyone who has stood in the way of their drug trade. And I had no idea that the most dangerous cartel, the Mexican Zeta cartel, is especially dangerous because it is made up of men trained by the U.S. military.

So, although I still love that Benjamin Franklin quote about freedom and death and being deserving, I no longer think the Arizona politicians are fascists. I kind of understand. They’re trying to quarantine this increasingly hazardous situation. I was being reactionary, letting political correctness cloud rationality, and was thinking like an uninformed moron.

Now, this is what I think: I think, what a mess. What a broken world. What a broken attempt at a solution. I think maybe Arizona politicians are trying to be brave and are trying to get the rest of us to notice.

Except John McCain. He is a sell-out.

That is all.



The libertarian's creed:

"Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security."

Ben Franklin

Patriarchy vs Matriarchy

One of my most annoying hobbies (according to friends and my husband) is my interest in gender issues- especially in relation to religion. In the past week, I've come across two different articles that take two (somewhat extreme) views on who's really running things- or who will soon be running things- man or woman. As the mama of three sons and one daughter, I want the world to be a peaceful, balanced place for them to grow up in. Is it really man or woman? Patriarchy or Matriarchy? Can my daughter become a doctor (hey! It could happen!) without someone complaining she is stealing a job from a man? Will my sons be able to thrive in a world that seems to cater to female traits over male traits?

Take a look at these two positions. (These are secular articles written mainly from an evolutionary standpoint. However- both make excellent arguments.)

1. The extreme conservative crowds (fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist Muslims) are breeding like rabbits (my case in point- though I'm probably not enough of a fundamentalist to be called a fundamentalist by fundamentalists if that makes any sense) while moderate and liberal families are stopping after one to two or choosing not to have any children at all.

Soon, the overwhelming population of patriarchal-minded conservatives will overtake the postmodern mindset, and we will be living a world similar to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. No, not really. But just maybe...



Check out this video- "How to Beat Your Wife." Favorite quote, "If he beats her, the beatings must be light and he must not make her face ugly." Well. At least there's that.

Longman argues that patriarchy is the reason the human face has not yet become extinct- and why as population is declining across the globe, it will most certainly make a comeback.

What does a patriarchal society entail?
1) Men marrying women of a proper station.
2) Great involvement of family in children's lives.
3) Stigmitization of illegitimate children and single mothers.
4) The idea that the children belong to the father's family, and not the mother's.
5) Families reproducing until they have at least one son.
6) Children are representatives of their father's rank and honor.
7) Suppression of individualism and full submission to the father.

The Return of Patriarchy by Philip Longman

Introductory quote to article:

“Throughout the broad sweep of human history, there are many examples of people, or classes of people, who chose to avoid the costs of parenthood. Indeed, falling fertility is a recurring tendency of human civilization. Why then did humans not become extinct long ago? The short answer is patriarchy.
Patriarchy does not simply mean that men rule. Indeed, it is a particular value system that not only requires men to marry but to marry a woman of proper station. It competes with many other male visions of the good life, and for that reason alone is prone to come in cycles. Yet before it degenerates, it is a cultural regime that serves to keep birthrates high among the affluent, while also maximizing parents' investments in their children. No advanced civilization has yet learned how to endure without it.”


2) Women are taking over, leaving men in the dust, and stripping them of their dignity and manhood.

The End of Men by Hanna Rosin



A scenario in which the all-sufficient woman is taking over not only traditional, nurturing-type jobs suited for women (teaching, nursing, etc.) but white-collar management positions that once went to men. On top of that, (women) are mad at men for not earning enough money to support their dreams of a white picket fence. AND studies point out that the learning styles in schools are geared toward females, not males- office structures are also female-oriented. Men seem to be at a severe disadvantage and women seem a) unsympathetic and b) annoyed that men aren't providing as they should. Are men becoming "the new ball and chain?"

Check out the commercial Rosin refers to narrated by none other than Michael C. Hall, aka Dexter, a man who balances work, family, and his lust for killing really bad people.

Two key quotes from the article:

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women now hold 51.4 percent of managerial and professional jobs—up from 26.1 percent in 1980. They make up 54 percent of all accountants and hold about half of all banking and insurance jobs. About a third of America’s physicians are now women, as are 45 percent of associates in law firms—and both those percentages are rising fast. A white-collar economy values raw intellectual horsepower, which men and women have in equal amounts. It also requires communication skills and social intelligence, areas in which women, according to many studies, have a slight edge. Perhaps most important—for better or worse—it increasingly requires formal education credentials, which women are more prone to acquire, particularly early in adulthood”

“Throughout the ’90s, various authors and researchers agonized over why boys seemed to be failing at every level of education, from elementary school on up, and identified various culprits: a misguided feminism that treated normal boys as incipient harassers (Christina Hoff Sommers); different brain chemistry (Michael Gurian); a demanding, verbally focused curriculum that ignored boys’ interests (Richard Whitmire). But again, it’s not all that clear that boys have become more dysfunctional—or have changed in any way. What’s clear is that schools, like the economy, now value the self-control, focus, and verbal aptitude that seem to come more easily to young girls.”


Do either of these scenarios concern you? Why or why not?

Glamour. Intrigue. Fruit.

Since this is the blog you turn to for both religion and politics, I know that you have been waiting for me to go ahead and explain the new health care bill that was passed yesterday. Unfortunately, the thing is longer than War and Peace, and I got bored after page 2. (No disrespect to Tolstoy. I’m sure War and Peace is riveting.) I’ll let you know when I figure out what’s going on, which may be a while, because I heard President Obama doesn’t even know what’s going on.

Instead, I would like to tell a tale of New York State politics: one full of glamour, attempted illegal enticement, and a strange but happy ending.

My husband, as I have mentioned, is a lawyer/lobbyist, a combination of words that is considered a cuss in the blue states. As a lawyer/lobbyist (pardon my French), he has to go to a lot of political events: fundraisers, galas, balls, meetings, and a various number of other synonyms for “get-togethers.”

I may have also mentioned my recent gloomy mood. John has been traveling Mon-Wed every week, which is cool (no one to tease me about watching Dancing with the Stars later on) but mostly not cool. The “not cool” part has been especially exacerbated by our recent viewing of the movie Paranormal Activity. I remain convinced that something evil is lurking in our house. Last night, the paranormal activity turned out to be our ice-maker, but DEAR GOD WHAT ABOUT NEXT TIME????

who will protect me?

John, cognizant of my desire for him to return quickly to our beloved homestead, was detained by two “events” after work the other evening. The first event ended at 6:30. He hoped the second event, a dinner held by a local association, clients of his, would require but a quick appearance by him so that he could be home a little after 7:00.

But then the worst thing happened. People were NICE to him. He was invited to sit at the head table. The executive officer of the association spotted John, insisted he stay for dinner, and gave him a long lecture on the importance of eating vegetables. Every day. (This is the "glamour" section of the story.) John acquiesced to eating some green beans, believing he could quickly duck out afterward.

This is the sort of event where people make speeches , which is a cruel practice and should probably be outlawed. It is why I never go to these things. While John was polishing off his green beans, the keynote speaker, a NYS political official, went ahead and did something dumb. He THANKED my lawyer/lobbyist husband for the work he’d done for the association. (John said he would have felt like a boob eating green beans and running after a public display of gratitude.)

So he stayed. And he was privy to a shocking scene.

His client tried to give the NYS political official a token of appreciation for speaking at the event. And not just any token of appreciation. An $80.00 fruit basket.

I’m sure you are aware of Public Officers Law 73 5(a)

5. No statewide elected official, state officer or employee, individual whose name has been submitted by the governor to the senate for confirmation to become a state officer or employee, member of the legislature or legislative employee shall, directly or indirectly:

(a) solicit, accept or receive any gift having more than a nominal value, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, lodging, meals, refreshments, entertainment, discount, forbearance or promise, or in any other form, under circumstances in which it could reasonably be inferred that the gift was intended to influence him, or could reasonably be expected to influence him, in the performance of his official duties or was intended as a reward for any official action on his part. No person shall, directly or indirectly, offer or make any such gift to a statewide elected official, or any state officer or employee, member of the legislature or legislative employee under such circumstances.

This includes fruit baskets.

You will be relieved to know that the NYS political official refused to take the gift. The client kept insisting. The Senator kept refusing, but didn't explain why. And this little dance seemed destined to continue until John stepped in.

“He really can’t accept it. He would be breaking the law if he did.” The client, seemingly astonished that it is illegal to give your keynote speaker fruit if they are serving in government, backed off immediately.

Later that evening, John went over to the same client to say goodnight, weary from another day in the sewer that is NYS politics. Then a wondrous thing happened. The client said,

“Y’know what, John? Why don’t you take this fruit basket home to your wife. I know you really wanted to get home to her this evening.”

Is that not the most heartwarming story you’ve ever read?

And it’s an awesome fruit basket, too. It has, or did have, cheese and sausage and Lindt candies and crackers and gourmet mustard and a lot of fruit. Including kiwi.

I’ve never received a fruit basket before. If this was what life was like for politicians BEFORE Public Officers Law 73 5(a), well, then. I totally understand the allure.

"The Adirondack Experience"

The twins and I have just returned revived from a weekend of Adirondack fresh air. That’s actually not quite true. As I write this, Daniel suffers from a fever. Ella has goopy eyes. Things are going downhill fast over here.

Just the same, the weather up north was cold but pleasant, the pine trees fragrant, and the foliage, though past its peak color, was still quite brilliant in some spots.

There’s lots of news up in Schroon Lake, NY, which is in another large area of NY that is not New York City. Big news, actually. A cell tower is being constructed upon a hill close to my grandmother’s home. We asked our aunt and uncle when the cell tower would be completed.

“They’re just putting the branches on it now,” was the reply.

Perhaps you are familiar with the time-honored tradition of adhering branches to cell towers. I was not. This was apparent by the quizzical expression on my face. It had to be explained.

You see, the Adirondacks is a rare and enchanted place where little villages are interspersed inside the largest state park in the country. This is all lovely, but LIVING inside a state park means that your cell towers should not seem like non-state park cell towers, which are, let’s all just admit, ugly.

I had heard of this problem before. The APA (Adirondack Park Agency) makes a big stink about anything that might disrupt the natural landscape, including cell towers and other technological eyesores that pop up. However, recently a Jewish couple ran off the road and got stuck on the Northway… the husband froze to death after their car ran off the road. NO CELL PHONE ACCESS! This was a problem not only because, well, he died, but because he wasn't able to be buried within 24 hours of his passing, as was his religious custom. Hence, a Schroon Lake cell tower! What excitement for Schroon Lake teenagers! And hikers who like to talk and walk! And people named John Mark!

I would have thought that camouflaging the cell tower with paint would be sufficient, but apparently not. It shall be made to look like the strangest tree you ever did see. And that’s NOT ALL! Here is another example of where your tax dollars are going:

On the Northway (stretch of road from Albany up to Canada) are scattered rest stations. The cell tower will not be built on this state-owned land, however. Instead, some dude with lots of land is renting out space for this treeish cell tower at the fair price of about $1400/year. Why, you may wonder, would the cell tower just be built in an area that wouldn’t cost New York State a million bucks within the next 100 years? Because, imagine if you will, a New York City couple in their rented Prius driving north on the northway to go to a charming B&B in Schroon Lake. They decide to pull over to take a whiz at the rest stop. There, seemingly glaring at them, is a massive cell tower that is donning a tree costume. The horror!!! Their whole trip might be ruined. Heck, sleep for years might be ruined… think of the nightmares you might have if you spotted a cell tower dressed as a tree!

The APA will not allow cell towers to appear in public places because it might ruin the “Adirondack Experience” for some tourist.

The visit with grandma went pretty well, I think, though she may or may not have implied that I should contact the Supernanny for help with my children. This may or may not have had something to do with dinnertime, which, by the way, I HATE.

The twins weren’t terrible the whole time. Actually, they did very well on the five hour drive up there, but one of them was a complete monster on the drive home. In fact, the drive home is making me question their Halloween costumes for this year. I have already purchased plush Minnie and Mickey costumes, which are adorable, but I’m thinking a lovely angel costume and a red devil costume, complete with horns and a pitchfork, might be more fitting for this particular year.

Today, I was driving while my sister and mom were sleeping as we passed the “Leaving Adirondack Park” sign. I had to face that melancholy moment all on my own. We ventured down Rt. 365 through the town of Holland Patent, which may just be the town I hide out in if I ever decide to run away and form a new identity as a mysterious stranger in an idyllic small town, and soon popped back onto the thruway back to Rochester, flat-landed city that it is.

Home again. Sigh.

Loon Lake Marina

I call this one "Reflection of my Soul in Foliage"

Schroon Lake Boathouse Theater

A Loveliesh, Christmasiesh Blog Post

People who blog and then start reading other people’s blogs (women, in particular) start to realize there are recognitions for superior blogging that come in the form of a badge you can paste on your OWN blog. And, if you are insecure and moody like I am, you may start to develop “blog award envy” and also frustration because a) you haven’t paid anyone to give you a great website design b) your idea of Photoshop is the edit function that came with the Windows Photo Gallery and c) even though you took a class in college, you are a horrific photographer whose good photos are absolute flukes. (Second lowest grade in college, by the way, after an eight o’clock math class that I missed six times.)

EcoMeg, a cool chick who writes a very cool blog about parenting and green living, has awarded me “The Lovely Blog Award.” I’ll take it, man! It’s over to the left. Isn’t it cool?

EcoMeg may have actually unwittingly saved my family's lives this evening. Her latest post lists the shelf-lives of various foods IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR RIGHT NOW. I had leftover ham in my fridge I was intending to use in a yummy quiche for dinner. (Yes, you can eat quiche at dinner. And despite what my husband says, quiche is perfectly acceptable for anyone, no matter what their sex or sexual orientation, to eat.) My ham had been opened later than 3-4 days. Much later, actually. So, with great drama, I threw it in the garbage. (Chicken nuggets it is!)

The deal is that I’m supposed to pick 15 blogs that I have discovered and award THEM the “Lovely Blog Award.” I figure, if this continues, everyone who has a blog out there will have this award, probably by the end of the year. Except people of the straight male persuasion, because it is definitely a very girly award.

It’s going to take me a couple of days to do this. But I will. I take this responsibility very very seriously.

My ego has taken SUCH a boost because another friend nominated me for this OTHER blog award and, get this, it comes with money cash. If you win. (John’s G.O.L.D. award didn’t even come with money cash!)

Look to the left… it’s all pink and says DivineCaroline. You can follow the link to the voting booth, where they WILL allow you to bring your child in with you, so that’s not an issue at all.

The problem is a) I have been entered late in the game… lots of people entered a couple of months ago and already have over 100 votes and b) people have to register on the dumb site to vote. Which is totally lame.

I haven’t even voted for me yet because I haven't registered. It's a cool site, however, and a fun place to explore. If you really love me, you will go on there and vote, darn it. (I'm a big proponent of emotional blackmail.) $250.00 in a Visa check card! Remember, I have four kids, two sisters, a brother, a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law, five parents, two grandmothers, two nieces, two nephews, and a really greedy husband to buy Christmas presents for. (THANK GOD for the Secret Santa thingie we do with John’s brothers and sister and their respective others. Because if we didn’t? EIGHT MORE GIFTS.)

Christmas is such a hassle. I always intend to start shopping early but inevitably wait until five days before Christmas. Since I’ve been married, I have spent every Christmas Eve wrapping presents while watching It’s a Wonderful Life on television, even though we have it on DVD. And predictably, only half of the presents are wrapped by the time I start crying like I just lost my puppy, which is always at the end when George Bailey’s brother toasts, “To my brother George, the richest man in town.” TAKE THAT MR. POTTER!

After that, I put in my other favorite Christmas movie, Gremlins, and fall asleep around 3am, that much closer to carpal tunnel syndrome from excessive scissor cutting, taping, and wrapping. (Actually, at the beginning of marriage bedtime was much earlier. Then people kept getting married and having kids and, well, you know. It’s happened to you too.)

People, I will so start Christmas shopping like two weeks earlier if I win this $250. I will be out there STIMULATING THE ECONOMY! (That sounds suggestive. Oh well.)

All this self-promotion is great practice for my presidency run. Merry Christmas!

When We Used to Be in Love

My husband is two terrible, horrible things. He is a lawyer AND a lobbyist. I rarely say this out loud. Usually, when people ask what he does, I tell them he works in the government affairs department at a law-firm. This is completely true and sounds pleasant.

When people ask what I do, I don’t ever say housewife. I say I am the manager of a fledgling but promising terrorist organization and I have four subordinates to whom I give orders. This does not sound pleasant, but it does sound a lot more interesting than housewife.

This evening, I accompanied my lawyer-lobbyist husband of nearly ten years to the ancient (as far as American cities are concerned) city of Buffalo, where we attended a fundraiser for a local senator aboard a harbor boat. I.e., we went on a booze cruise. Ella had a blast.

No, we didn’t take Ella or any other young child. We procured babysitting and so this event was sort of a date. Occasionally, John’s job comes with some perks, and this evening happened to be a rather lovely event. Sometimes, John has to go to affairs where he is required to “shmooze” clients or politicians. I do not do well at these affairs. I do not mingle. Shy people generally hate making inane small talk with people they don’t know. It makes us feel squeamish inside. When forced to do these things, I generally find excuses to go to the bathroom, where I linger, avoiding the loquacious crowd.

We had to WALK THROUGH the protestors to get to the boat. This is also something shy people don’t relish doing. Luckily, there are very few times in life one must walk through a crowd of angry protestors.

These particular protestors seemed to lack passion. They didn’t really pay attention to US, pers se, but directed their rather drone chants at the senator. Walking through the paltry crowd did make me feel three things I know I am not: elite, political, and unabashed. I felt strangely compelled to shout out, “You don’t know me! You don’t know me!”

I don’t even know what the protestors were protesting against. They formed a group outside of the marina and waved rather vague protest signs at us, something about the federal reserve? What is your local senator going to do about the federal reserve, people? They were white and middle-aged and basically a harmless lot. You know, the sort of people who show up at town hall meetings railing about Obama’s health care plan.

John didn’t really know many people at this particular fundraiser, so I didn’t have to play little wifey-poo who mingles. We sat at a table with a couple who had been married 45 years (makes our ten seem… paltry) and ate a plentiful meal of ziti and salad and cheesy potatoes and white wine. We rose our glasses, or plastic cups, rather, in the direction of the protestors, because we like to pretend that we are rabble-rousers.

The boat ride about the harbor was fun. Only two people got so drunk that they jumped off the boat and we were not invaded by Somali pirates, which is always a good thing. John and I argued over which was the superior city, Buffalo or Rochester, and I won, of course.

The best part of the whole evening was that I didn’t even get sick. I wore my anti-nausea wrist bands and chewed ginger gum, which tastes like puke, by the way. This bodes very well for our cruise. (Not the ginger gum tasting like puke, but me not getting seasick.)

On the drive home, we thought about visiting our old apartment in Amherst and decided against it. We reminisced about our early years of marriage, when John was in law school and I was trying to decide what to do with my life. (I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up! I KNOW! Let’s have a baby even though we’re practically destitute so that I can postpone that decision for a while!) We lived in the ugliest duplex that was, if nothing else, pretty darn spacious.

Ahhh, the good old days when we had to shoo our drug-dealing neighbors off our driveway (strangely, their preferred spot for dealing their hasheesh) and we slept in on the weekends and watched tons of movies on John’s school breaks and took weekend jaunts to visit friends and family… back in those days when we used to be in love.

This is our really stupid joke for when we reminisce about our days of yore.

“John, remember when you used to take me to the theater? You know, when we used to be in love?”

“Hey, Holly! Remember when we used to make out during movies? You know, when we used to be in love?”

“Hey John, remember when you used to make pancakes on Saturday mornings? You know, when we used to be in love?”

“Holly, remember when you used to shave your legs on a semi-regular basis? You know, when we used to be in love?”

Obviously, we still consider ourselves “in love” though it is probable that my not shaving my legs often has taken some of the passion from our marriage. (Also, the no more pancakes on Saturday mornings? That does not invoke passion either.)

However… it is, I believe, very likely that in another ten years I will say the following:

“Hey you. Remember that fun boat ride we took in the Buffalo harbor? Remember when you put your arms around me because I got chilly even though we were in front of work-people? The one where I waved while you made muscle-arms at the people who passed us in speed boats? And remember how on the way home I sang Disney princess songs and you didn’t even turn on the radio to drown me out? You know… when we used to be in love?”

God and Politics

I hate dinner time. Hate it hate it hate it. If you haven’t seen the video I posted, which features a not-that-uncommon dinner scenario at the Jennings’ household, you should probably check it out. Especially if you’re looking into birth control. Heck, show it to your teenage kids. It will scare the living doo-doo out of them.

Dinner always starts out rough. Friends and family, especially our non-Christian friends, are always incredibly amused by the fact that our older boys fight over who gets to say the mealtime prayer. It’s gotten to the point where I have to keep track of who said it last. If Caleb says the prayer at breakfast, then Ben says it at lunch, Caleb says it again at dinner, which means that Ben gets to say the prayer twice the next day. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I would just say the prayer myself, but I might end up praying that God turns my children into mutes, which probably isn’t a good thing to petition God for.

The prayer itself is pretty basic. In fact, the boys don’t waver in their address to the Lord Almighty at all. It goes like this:

Dear God. Thank you for this day. Help us to get a good sleep. Bless this food to our bodies. Help G__ the Bear to get better. Amen.

(G__ the Bear is really just G__. He is John’s best friend from college, and is currently tussling with cancer. We attribute all of the success of his treatments directly to the many prayers the boys have offered up on his behalf.) Why G__ the Bear? Before his chemo treatments, G__ had a sizeable beard (think Civil War general) that made him appear, well, bear-like to the boys.

I have no idea how sleeping got incorporated into the mealtime prayer. Whatever.

Things go downhill from there. Sometime I will tell the extremely sad and somewhat horrific story of the night I served Tilapia.

Caleb, a budding Christian fundamentalist wack-a-doo, is that kid in Sunday School who raises his hand after every question and answers… “Jesus?”

He is also (and this may seem odd) an ardent fan of Barack Obama. He voted for him in his elementary school’s presidential election. He gets giddy if he sees the president on television or on the cover of a magazine. He is a bit star-struck, the same way he is about Spikes, the mascot of the Rochester Red Wings baseball team.

He is, I believe, a little flummoxed that his own father voted for the other guy. Here is a conversation they had earlier this evening:

Caleb: Why didn’t you vote for Barack Obama?

John: I didn’t think he was the best candidate.

Caleb: You voted for McCain?

John: Yup.

Caleb: You thought he was the best guy?

John: I didn’t think he was the best guy. The re-animated corpse of Ronald Reagan would have been better than McCain. But I thought he was better than the other guy.

---pause… Caleb is thinking…pause---

Caleb: God is the best guy.

John: Well, God can’t be president. He isn’t a natural born citizen of the United States.

And I end it there. And now you know that this is a blog you can turn to for your daily dose of religion and politics.

A Heartwarming Independence Day Story from the Great State of New York

(Warning: in this blog post, Holly attempts to talk politics. She promises this won’t happen often... only when there are such wonderful, heartwarming politically-based stories to share with you.)

Ludicrous! Absurd! Ridiculous! Wildly entertaining! All of these words are indicative of the fascination I have with the current state of the New York State Senate.

The New York State Republicans and Democrats are more antagonistic toward one another than the Cryps are with the Bloods. Seriously. They won’t even convene together in the Senate chambers.

This whole debacle started when dodo-head Senator Pedro Espada and jerk-face Senator Hiram Monserrate defected from the asses to join up with the fat elephants. The Senate shifted; the Democrats lost control. The Republicans voted Espada to be the head of Senate. Because our goofy state has no successor for governor after lieutenant governor (remember Spitzer? Our once governor who was busted for visiting high-end prostitutes?), Espada is next in line to lead the state if something should happen to poor Paterson.

Then, jerk-face Monserrate, in a brazen move, went back to the Democrats. Since that day, the Senate has remained in a 31-31 stalemate.

Because of these events, the asses and fat elephants are in an amusing, though damaging power struggle that threatens the whole of the state. They absolutely refuse to meet together to resolve their differences.

The Democrats have been camping out in Senate chambers while the GOP meets elsewhere in the Capitol building. Things got especially complicated this past week when Senator Padavan (R) decided to take a shortcut through Senate chambers to get a coca-cola from the members lounge. The Democrats decided that his traipsing through their meeting constituted a quorum and began spontaneously passing all sorts of legislation.

The governor, poor soul, has refused to sign any of these bills, pissing off the Democrats royally.

Padavan is quite upset that he was counted as the 32nd vote. Apparently, he doesn’t remember voting. He says, and I quote, “I was just thirsty!”

Senator Craig Johnson, a democrat from Nassau county, says that it doesn’t matter whether Padavan was passing through the chambers for a “V-8, a Coca-Cola or a cup of coffee, a 37-year veteran … walked in.”

Poor Paterson… since the initial coup in early June, he has confined himself inside the state of New York. (I empathise. I, too, have petulant tyrants in my life who form coups often. Sometimes, I am quarantined to just my house! The difference, of course, is that my captors are very small children, not full-grown men and women.)



And then a twist in our story… Happy 4th of JULY!!!! The crown of the Statue of Liberty has been re-opened! Yippee! (She has been closed since September 11th, 2001 understandably.)

(This blogger does not know why anyone would bother to climb up to the top of Lady Libby, a tiny space where you can peer out of pigeon-poop, dirt encrusted windows. Yet, people seem excited about again being able to make the climb. It’s symbolic or some such thing. Whatever.)

The governor of the Empire state wanted to be there. Of course he did! He wanted to cut the ribbon. Wouldn’t you if you were governor? What a photo-op!

Problem: if Paterson should leave the state on route to Liberty Island, he would leave control of the state in the hands of someone even more incompetent than he: Pedro Espada. And Espada, who has already proven to be a shady character, would have most certainly taken the opportunity to further exacerbate the Senate stalemate.

No one was quite sure if Liberty Island was in New York State waters or New Jersey waters. Even if Liberty Island proved to be in New York State waters, Paterson would have to be very careful that while on route to the island, his boat did not pass into New Jersey waters. If Paterson had ended up in New Jersey, we certainly know what the Republicans would have said when taking control of the state:

“It doesn’t matter of the governor was going to the statue for a V-8, a coca-cola…”

Paterson took a long, roundabout way to Manhattan, making sure his vehicle and boat did not once cross the state border.

The statue, you will be relieved to know, appeared to be in New York State, so Paterson was able to attend the ceremony. Consequently, Mayor Bloomberg was NOT the center of attention. Bummer for him.

I really think this is one of the most beautiful Independence Day stories I have ever heard.

THIS is certainly what our forefathers had in mind when they signed the Declaration of
Independence… that one day, on a future anniversary of the signing, the governor of one of the original states would NOT be able to venture into another original state, for fear of ANOTHER state coup.

And no, my Southern friends, I refuse to move south. I would hate to miss out on the circus that is New York State politics.

Frank Capra could not have made this stuff up.