R.I.P Margaret Thatcher: A Look at a Mother and her Politics Video

A look at a mother who changed the world.  Disagree with her policies all you like, but there is no way to be intellectually honest and say that she didn't do just that.  The U.K. was in a terrible mess when she took power.  People may not remember but the government was a three day work week due to union strikes when she took over.  She broke the strikes and got the U.K. back onto good financial footing.

Rush, Liberal Trolls, and the Conservative Woman

I came across a post yesterday at Caffeinated Thoughts on Sarah Palin and Rush. Rush got a caller from Virginia who took issue with Sarah Palin's possible run for president due to her young children. She went on to explain how she couldn't support a woman who has very young children being POTUS. Rush didn't take to kindly to this caller and viewed her as a liberal troll. What makes me believe that she isn't a liberal trying to stir up trouble is because when he asked who she would support she said Mitch Daniels. Daniels isn't exactly on the liberal radar from what I can tell. If she had said Romney or Huckabee it would be easier to believe that she may have been a fake caller.


Rush dismissed her and her concerns out of hand

RUSH: You’re not disappointing me. You’re just a sexist.


CALLER: Am I? Well, that could be it, too.


RUSH: A little sexism going on here, but that’s fine, everybody has, you know, boundaries to allow some of that stuff to happen….

Is it really sexist to think that small children need their mommy? Jill from Pundit and Pundette doesn't seem to think so. She is the mom to a large family and has made being there for her children her priority. That doesn't make her sexist or a Neanderthal. There are plenty of women in this country who honestly believe that being a mother is the most important role they will ever have. My Gosh, even Natalie Portman called it her most important role. They believe that being there on a consistent and daily basis is the preferable way to raise children to become healthy and happy adults.


When the caller brought up Mitch Daniels Rush then went onto to say that he is a father. Yes Rush, Mitch is the father of four girls. But, they are not girls, they are women. The youngest is about 25. Sarah Palin's youngest child is about three. There is no comparison between the two. A 25-year-old woman has her own life and the daily parenting work is now over. A three-year old who was disabilities and a child in elementary school have needs that his daughters do not. Frankly, I am little shocked that Rush would even say something like that unless he doesn't know how old Daniels' children are. Which is entirely possible, because I had to go online to look it up.


The women who believe that being there for your children are not ignorant enough to not realize that being a stay at home mom is possible for all women. There are plenty of women out there who must work. Some due to being single parents others due to the financial realities that don't allow them the luxury of staying home. The issue becomes when a woman like Sarah Palin's knee jerk reaction was to put people down for wanting that or preferring that. Calling someone a Neanderthal isn't going to win over people. When I did my original post on this many of the comments that followed was the fact that Todd Palin stays at home with the children when she is traveling. Ok, fine, but then that would make what she said even more perplexing. She can do these things because there is a stay at home parent. She should be embracing that instead of putting it down.


The idea of running a national campaign for the presidency of the United States and then spending four years doing a very stressful and all-consuming job when you have a three-year is going to turn some people off. One of the things that I actually did respect about Michelle Obama during the campaign was the fact that she refused to be away from her children more than two days at a time, and the girls were kept at home with a regular schedule. The day after their father was elected president they were in school. She still goes to her daughters activities. I respect that. She has made giving her daughters a childhood her priority. I don't agree with the Obama's on virtually anything, but they have tried to give their children the most normal childhood that they can considering they live in a fishbowl. Also, for the record, I did say way back when that I didn't think someone with very young children should be president. I don't think it is a healthy environment to raise children in. If that makes me some nut, then so be it. When you bring a child home from the hospital you have made a choice to be a parent. That choice comes with major responsibilities and yes it includes putting your desires on the back-burner at times.


Rush also went on to bring up Hillary Clinton

RUSH: It seems to me all this hating going on on Sarah Palin, for whatever reason, there are a lot of people who just don’t like the idea of a strong woman. Well, isn’t that what we heard in explaining the criticism of Hillary? We did.

Rush, this isn't about liking or disliking strong women. This is about the fact that Sarah Palin has two children under ten, one of which has yet to start school. Again, Chelsea is a grown woman who actually went out and campaigned for her mother. There are people in this country who believe that a mother of small children should put the needs of their children before the desire to be the most powerful woman in the world. There is a distinct role for mothers in the lives of their children. A role that fathers simply cannot provide.

The Importance of Motherhood is a Bad Thing?

Natalie Portman accepted her oscar on Sunday night for her role in Black Swan. During her acceptance speech she thanked her love for giving her "..the most important role of her life". She didn't flat-out say it, but everyone is assuming that she meant her impending motherhood. Natalie is about five months pregnant with her first child.



She also thanked her parents for giving her life and allowing her to pursue her career at such a young age. Natalie seems to be out of the norm by surviving fame and hollywood from a very young age. Most child stars don't fare very well. Natalie has never been in the headlines like some such as the kids from Different Strokes, Danny from the Partridge Family, and very long list of others.

I found Natalie's speech to be very touching and seem to come from the heart. Apparently, not everyone agrees with me. Mary Elizabeth Williams of Slate is very insulted that Ms. Portman believes that motherhood will be her most important role.

When you're pregnant, especially for the first time, there are a lot of amazed and awed moments in between the heartburn and insomnia. But is motherhood really a greater role than being secretary of state or a justice on the Supreme Court? Is reproduction automatically the greatest thing Natalie Portman will do with her life?

Portman has a degree in psychology, so I don't think she is qualified to be either Secretary of State or a justice on the Supreme Court.

Why, at the pinnacle of one's professional career, would a person feel the need to undercut it by announcing that there's something else even more important? Even if you feel that way, why downplay your achievement? Why compare the two, as if a grueling acting role and being a parent were somehow in competition?

Natalie at no time undercut her achievement. She very specifically said how grateful she was to have her acting career and talked about her love and passion for the work.




This is yet one more example of the feminists of the world downplaying the importance of motherhood. Motherhood is the most important job you will ever have and saying so is nothing to be ashamed of. This is not to say that women should never work, it is just saying that bringing up a child and helping that child to realize their own potential and to grow into a happy, healthy and well-adjusted adult is very hard work and yes, sometimes you will have to give up things in order to do it correctly. Once you bring that child home from the hospital you have made a choice to be the best parent that you can be, and if putting your professional career on the back-burner at moments is a small price to pay.


What is so sad about this article is that author even uses examples of other actresses who have achieved success and are still home for their children; Annette Bening, who was also up for best actress against Natalie. Annette has been very open about the fact that her four children come first for her.

"I have all these conditions on which I can work,"

Obviously she has found a balance that works for her children and herself. Julia Roberts now has three children. I remember hearing an interview with her saying that the ability to stay home with her kids was her reward for working so hard when she was younger. She has still made some movies since the birth of her kids. Kate Winselt and Reese Witherspoon both won Oscars after having children. That doesn't mean that they put acting before their children. It just means that they have a support system that allows them to pursue their careers and raise their families.


This isn't even the age-old battle of the stay at home mom versus the working mom. This is an all out attack on motherhood as a whole. I agree with Jackie Kennedy when it comes to motherhood

If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much.

I find this whole thing especially rich when you think about the movie for which she won this award for. In Black Swan, Natalie plays a ballerina that is self-destructive mainly due to a mother who put her daughter's career ahead of her well-being.

Cross posted at PotLuck