In a grassroots movement, moms of all political persuasions organize to oust Bush

Baltimore Sun ^ | March 30, 2004 | Susan Reimer

[Cincinatus' Wife]

..........Iris Anthony, a mother of four boys, recalls sitting at the dinner table in her Arnold home, listening to Bush declare victory in Iraq and knowing with dreaded certainty that his declaration did not mean soldiers were coming home anytime soon.

"I looked around the table at my satin-cheeked boys - I mean, not one of them shaves yet - and saying I was damned if I was going to send any of them to Iraq.

"I think I actually cursed.

"Anyway, Theo, the 13-year- old says, 'Well, Mom. What are you going to do about it?'"

Anthony called 20 friends and told each one to call 20 friends and they gathered in her living room during the height of holiday preparations - the best evidence of their seriousness, she says.

"We decided we weren't going to be just a bunch of women whining on the phone to each other. If ever there was a year for mothers to act, this was it. The issues for mothers are so clear."

I know what you are thinking. These women are my friends and we all think alike or we never would have let our kids hang out together. But it isn't that simple.

Once a woman has a child, all children become her children, and she casts her net of compassion and empathy far and wide to embrace them.

"We are a diverse group," says Woolridge, a stay-at-home mom who voted Republican in 1988. "But we have a common heart."

The fathers of our children may become more conservative, and perhaps more Republican, as they seek to protect the stake in the community they established in the name of family. But the mothers often become less so.

Mothers pray for all families to prosper and all children to succeed. The president does himself no good if he refuses to address the dismay of this constituency. ...............

[jocon307]

(For the record, my sons are 10, 7-1/2, 2, and 2 months.)

Wow, three boys! You are like my cousin. I saw a plaque once in a store that said "There's a special place in heaven for Moms with three boys".

Good going mom!

[Mike Bates]

Mothers Against Bush

[AnAmericanMother]

Me too!

That line stood out like the proverbial pork chop at the Bar Mitzvah.

No way any real-life mother said that, let alone one with four boys. Having four boys will get you in touch with gritty reality VERY quickly.

[elk]

Sounds alot like the "grassroots" Million Mom March, "accidentally" started at a breakfast conversation by a woman who's a total leftist activist/Hillary worker/relative or whatever. These groups ARE dangerous, however, because they are NOT grassroots, have professionals behind them, and are massively funded by the looney left. That's why it's hard for similar groups to get ahead. The media will call upon these "diverse moms" for all opinions, while ignoring the entire other side (e.g., NOW versus Concerned Women for America, Million Mom March versus Second Amendment Sisters, Clarke versus Aldrich....see the pattern?).

Wanna bet that if a group of moms in Virginia got together for Bush, they could never get newspaper articles announcing their formation? Would they get calls for a "man on the street" statement? RIGHT...Sure....

What should conservative moms do? Between running a household with many small kids, and homeschool, without massive extra money sitting around...what should someone like me do? I'd like to pose this question out there...I've got a computer, DSL, law degree, work experience...no money, not oodles of time....It's an old problem. People like me are busy taking care of business, doing everything they can to properly care for husband, children and home. The wacko college activists with too much time and money on their hands can zip around on parents' credit cards to the latest protest along with the DINKS, or those with 1.5 children.

On the other hand, I don't want to be on the sidelines of the culture war, either, as our heritage slips away. What I'm doing in investing in the wees ones' lives is a long-term project whose fruits don't help the next election. Is there someone those like me can do that has more current impact? Any thoughts?

[tgslTakoma]

The "Barf Alert" is a given, in that it comes from the Baltimore Sun.

[Allegra]

Once a woman has a child, all children become her children, and she casts her net of compassion and empathy far and wide to embrace them.

HURL! The person who wrote that doesn't shave her armpits. You can just tell.

[guitfiddlist]

"We decided we weren't going to be just a bunch of women whining on the phone to each other."

So they're going to go out and FIGHT...for the national policy of sitting around and whining anytime the US is attacked. Good plan.

[Dianna]

HURL! The person who wrote that doesn't shave her armpits. You can just tell.

How many more Americans have to die before these women figure out how the world works? How sickening.

[kittymyrib]

These are the type of mothers who lost children in the Twin Towers and still don't get the idea that we are in a war for survival. They believe that positive thinking will make the world a better place. The only hatred allowed is hatred for conservatives and Bush. The biggest swing vote in the US is conservative women. Get every one of those that you know registered to vote and take them to the polls, or babysit so they can go. There are many more of us than of these whiners, but we have to be as active as they are politically.

[Tax-chick]

Four sons: Bill (10), Tom (7-1/2), Pat (2), and James (2 months) ... and three daughters. So far. You wouldn't believe how much they all eat :-).

[tm22721]

So when do these 'mothers' defend themselves ?

When the enemy is at their doorstep ?

BUMP

[Allegra]

How many more Americans have to die before these women figure out how the world works? How sickening.

Tell me abut it. YEEESH! I see CNN on rare occasions (thank goodness on the "rare" part) and what I see on there and what I see in real life (and boy, am I seeing "real life!") are so different. CNN spouts pure fiction and these Earth Mothers eat it right up.

[Allegra]

"abut" = "about."

Should use the spell check with my lousy typing.

I'm not Canadian. :)

[Tax-chick]

I'm in a similar situation, except I have a management degree :-). Remember that you're rearing lots of future voters. It's never too early to start introducing conservative politics. Give them "America's First Freedom" to read ... speeches of Alan Keyes, best rhetorician in America ... books of Thomas Sowell, greatest living thinker ...

I don't know what age your children are - mine are 13 down to 2 months - but you all can help out a local candidate for office by walking around your neighborhood when it's time, or helping with letters, or wearing their free campaign t-shirts if they've got them.

It is frustrating sometimes to not be able to DO SOMETHING, but remember the future belongs to those who, first, have children, and second, bring them up right!

[Esther Ruth]

Cowards will do and say anything to defend themselves, to make themselves look good - they are bashing W because they don't want to look like the cowards and scaredy cats and selfish pee-ons they are. And they will rip out your eyes before they even let you talk in front of one of their "satin cheeked little babies". Premadonnas!!! These moms will probably be wiping there other little cheeks when the little premadonnas are 20 years old still.

[Tax-chick]

Boys with satin cheeks must be sitting inside watching TV, when they're not at the spa getting facials (sorry, we had another "metrosexual" thread last night :-). Real boys should be outside playing war and getting dirty!

I have a son who should get early admission to the Marine Corps, too. A calling to serve your country in the military is a gift, and parents should encourage it just as they would a desire to be a doctor or scientist.

[ThinkingMan]

Luckily there is still hope- my oldest son (11 years old) has already announced his intention to join the military.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

They elected clinton twice.

[verity]

144 such people in a room is gross ignorance!

[OldFriend]

My son served during the X42 years.

One day he said to me that he would go back in a heartbeat if it meant his little sister could live in freedom.

We were honored by his service and the service of all those who understand that without the brave, there is no land of the free.

Sounds like a cliche but it's true.