A MOTHERS THOUGHTS on an HIV MUPPET

I wish that this was a easy subject to discuss, but it's not. The way I view this there are really three issues here that need to be separated to make any sense at all:

#1) How to deal with people who we love who need our love and who are dying - this does not necessarily mean HIV only.

#2) How to deal with a deadly disease that is spreading throughout the world and is communicable from person to person by contact or contact with body fluids.

#3) How to best, as parents raise our children to be good, honest, compassionate and kind - and protect them as they grow from all types of danger - physical and mental, and emotional - so that our children can pick up this world and carry it into the next generation.

As many of you know, I am a gen-Xer, who grew up with Sesamee Street and I have four children under 10-years old. My brother died from aids not long ago. My husband is trying to come to terms and deal with the eventual loss of a younger brother, who he loves and respect tremendously, who is HIV positive. And when I cross the street I hold my children's hands. This sums up my perspective pretty well...

Anyone who has small children understands the tremendous weight everyday carries when they go off to school, or visit a friend, or even the first time they climb on a bicycle or climb a tree in the back yard. Apprehension, fear, prayer and a million emotions - for our little ones. I'm sorry, if you are not a parent you really won't understand the range of emotions a mother endures, daily....

I teach my children to be kind, I teach my children the golden rule, I make them wash their hands before meals, I pray with them at bedtime, I teach them not to talk to strangers, I pick their friends carefully, I teach them the 10-Commandments. I have a picture of Jesus across from a picture of George Washington in the reading room, I tell them never to pick up hitch-hikers and don't drink out of anyone else's glass. I bring them in the house during a lightning storm, I keep them home when they are sick so that they will not pass on their cold or the flu to other children. I hook up their seatbelts when we drive....and I pray that G-d will watch over them and all the other children of the world...

After all of this, can anyone at Sesame Street please tell me, why would I teach my children that HIV is NORMAL and they should treat it as such?! Anyone who has ever had children and watched NORMAL childhood play knows that it involves bangs, cuts, Contact, biting, spitting, holding, grabbing, on and on, day in and day out. Soccer, kickball, tag, volley ball, baseball...please - am I to assume that this is perfectly safe if a child with HIV is part of the playground equation?
Please, don't mix the issues here - parents are supposed to protect at the same time they teach their children - can Sesame Street's Schneider convince me that teaching is as valuable as protecting when all he wants to do is indoctrinate a character that teaches - but mentions nothing about protection?

As a mother, am I supposed to buy the Sesame Street standards, they will provide the kindness message and if that's all that happens don't I need to provide the protection lesson that includes- no scratching or spitting - wresting - no contact - no bleeding no exchange of sweat... carry Clorox and rubber gloves - disinfect immediately any blood from scrapes - report any spitting to the principal. Goodness, just review the rules and procedures for health care workers and law enforcement officers who may have been in contact with someone HIV positive...and this is what every responsible parent would have to instruct their child to do!

My G-d, no one denies that HIV infected children need love and kindness, but we as adults should at least have the mature social courage to treat dangerous communicable illness as a dangerous communicable illness - and take what ever means are necessary to stop the spread of this and any other communicable disease to other children! This is true responsible kindness and understanding and by no measure does it equal hate or meanness! An HIV child is like the child in a bubble in reverse. Geesh, are we expected to treat chicken pox and the flu with higher standards than HIV? You can fill in the blanks from there anyway you please...

Can't anyone see how our values of kindness and compassion have become the 'Trojan Horse' of those who wish to eventually destroy the family? In today's world there are people and groups whose sole aim is to tear apart what is good, pure and innocent - starting with our children.
It's much like the person who uses the story of the good Samaritan and they feign injury in order to rob or rape a passerby.

These children with aids are being used as political and social pawns and their tragedy is being exploited for a larger scheme - to normalize a radical and perverted agenda. If you want proof just ask (or answer) the following question: If these people are so full of compassion then why haven't they told the entire truth about the how/who/and why AIDS has reached this critical dimension? Fully two thirds of HIV transmission would never happen if people(both men and women) stopped dropping their pants outside of marriage. In this case just erase and replace the name of this illness with say syphilis, gonorrhea, meningitis, cancer - and see if it would qualify for a pre-school children's television show character...the conclusion itself should raise a red flag...

Yes, we can become like Africa - if we continue to have a POLITICALLY CORRECT HIV policy and we will follow them down the same path of social suicide - just continue telling half truths and taking half measures to deal with the reality of a fatal contact transmitted disease.

My 5-year old once asked me "Who's the parent here?" My answer to her was - "I am..." and before I finished, she told me that I have to "...do what a parent does." I intend to do exactly that. I will teach my children right from wrong and I will teach them love and compassion - and I will do everything in my power to protect them from ALL harm and danger. If that means don't talk to strangers as well as don't watch Sesame Street - that is what I will tell them.

I would wager to say - most who view this new character in a favorable light have no small children that they are trying to raise in today's real world. Please don't try to use my little children for politically correct ideas, indoctrination or politically protected illness...I'll stop you anyway I can.

Please, don't try to tell me the how's, what's, and why's, of raising my four children...use it on your own little ones. I watched my brother die from AIDS.

P.S. Compassion? Try this - Have some compassion for the unborn children of the future, and those young people who will become HIV infected tomorrow if we adults don't have the courage to treat AIDS today in the same manner as other communicable and dangerous fatal diseases.

This is a rant I wrote a while back...it is somewhat relevant to this topic.

First of all, let me say that I'm angry. I may even let a few four-letter words fly, so if that's a problem, you may not want to read any more of this f***ing rant. I'm angry because a few months ago my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes and it has turned her life upside-down. It has also caused considerable stress in our family.

I will readily admit that prior to her diagnosis, I probably thought about diabetes for a total of about an hour in my whole life. For that, I am truly sorry. I am sorry because I have been unaware and insensitive to the plight of diabetics. And I'm talking about Type 1, juvenile-onset, or whatever you want to call it. Not Type 2 or adult-onset. I now have great compassion for anyone with diabetes, but it is for the children that I weep. I'm sorry that there is such a lack of awareness or "publicity", if you will, in our nation. In the back of my mind, I assumed that diabetics had insulin, and that was all they needed. My father-in-law became diabetic later in life with Type 2. His lifestyle practically begged for diabetes. Even still, no one deserves diabetes, but it is the children that are truly innocent. They cannot "prevent" diabetes as an adult might. They did nothing to cause it. Who will speak for them?

It seems that diabetes is not a favored disease. This is not to belittle the many dedicated scientists and researchers who are working diligently for a cure. Godspeed to them. As a woman says on a diabetes list-serv I belong to, "where's the &*?#*!! cure?" Well, let me be a little more blunt. Where is the f***ing cure?

I am certainly not a scientist or biologist, but it seems to me that a great nation with vast resources like ours, that has cured smallpox, whooping cough, polio, etc. should be able to cure diabetes. We are told how lucky we are. There have been so many advances in diabetes care in the last few years. But I'm thinking, when insulin was first discovered in the 1920's or whatever, they injected it with needles into the lucky diabetics. Granted this was a huge improvement over death, but I can't see how things have changed that much in the subsequent 80 years. My daughter is still injecting her insulin via needle. Yes, we have better insulins, and we can monitor her blood glucose eight times a day if we want, but when it comes right down to it, diabetes is still a crapshoot. We try to give her the proper dose, but half the time we are wrong. So then we have to correct the next dose, and so on. Or we can get her an insulin pump. She can carry it around like a beeper, strapped to her body, with a semi-permanent I.V. tube dripping insulin into her body. And believe it or not, that is state-of-the-art.

Three months ago, I was the type of parent who was paranoid about giving my kids children's Tylenol. I would always give them a conservative dose, probably to their detriment. Now I'm drawing out insulin (or supervising) in a syringe, with life-or-death implications three times a day.

Let me tell you what happens when she gets too much insulin. Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, sets in. She becomes dizzy, she feels faint. Today she felt nauseous. If she is able to recognize her hypoglycemia, she will eat something sweet, candy or juice. This will normally bring her around and she feels better. If she is unable to tell us she feels bad, and the low blood sugar becomes worse, she may become incoherent and difficult to deal with. Thank God we haven't been to this stage yet, but I wake up every morning thinking this will probably be the day. If she can't eat or drink, we can squeeze some glucose gel or cake frosting into her mouth and hope that somehow she ingests enough of it to make a difference. If she completely passes out, we have been given a special syringe with glucagon in it. We are supposed to inject it immediately, and this will cause the liver to release stored glucose. When they told us about the glucagon syringe at the hospital, I dismissed the likelihood of us needing it. As responsible parents and caregivers, we would never let her get to that state. What a truly barbaric remedy. Come to find out, it's not all that unusual. My friend's sister, diabetic for 40 years, has needed the glucagon many times. She has often been found unconscious in her bed. That freaks me out. If the glucagon doesn't work, then 911 is called. Hopefully, it's not too late. I've read about this... it's called "dead-in-bed" syndrome. I try not to dwell on it.

If she receives too little insulin, her blood sugar gets high. She gets cranky, headachy, and nauseous. If it remains too high for too long, she will begin (and has begun) down the slow, inexorable path to the pathetic complications of diabetes...neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy. As you probably know...as I knew, but never really thought about....diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in our country, consuming 10% of our healthcare dollars. But with insulin, it's manageable, right?

Now I'm getting around to the politically incorrect part of this diatribe. If you are squeamish or very P.C. then I would by all means recommend you read no further. Because you see, diabetes is not a P.C. disease. I know that millions of dollars are donated to diabetes research every year and for that, I have become almost nauseatingly grateful. When my daughter was diagnosed, I began donating to the cause, but soon realized the pitiful amount I could manage would not be a drop in the ocean. I have even fantasized that maybe it's not too late for me to become a brilliant scientist and "cure" diabetes. Needless to say, that is not happening and I am feeling quite inadequate.

Money may not cure this disease but it will sure as hell help. There is a small army of researchers with very expensive toys trying to find a cure. If there were more money available, there will be more toys for them to play with and more incentive to find the cure. We need more money, more scientists, and more equipment.

I think we all know what diseases are politically correct. Breast cancer is P.C. Prostate cancer is not, even though both kill approximately the same amount of people. One of these days, men may learn to organize like women have on behalf of their disease. But I digress. I do not begrudge any dollars spent on breast cancer research. After all, if my daughter survives diabetes, I certainly don't want her dying of breast cancer. And of course, cancer is not a disease one can readily prevent. But the most P.C. disease is of course AIDS. Why, there has been more publicity and hoopla generated on behalf of AIDS in the last 5 years than there has been for diabetes in the last 100.

Now I'm beginning to get very f***ing angry. I am not a homophobe. I wish that so many thousands of young men in America had not died of AIDS or had not become ill. I have had several good friends who were homosexual. They were some of the most delightful people I have known. I have attended "gay-liberation" balls in college that were wildly entertaining, if not decadent. But the simple fact of the matter is that AIDS is almost entirely preventable already. There is no need to spend multi-millions of dollars on this disease. There is no need for big Hollywood stars to make themselves feel good by lending their name to this cause. There is no need to wear a f***ing red ribbon on your lapel to show that you are hip and caring.

Why is there no need?

Because all we need to do to prevent AIDS is for these people not to put their penises in other men's anuses. That is a little blunt, but is quite apt. If the thousands of young men had not engaged in homosexual sex they would not have died. It's not a question of whether it's perverted sex or if God is punishing gays. It is simply a fact that most AIDS victims are homosexuals. Surely, 95% of the people on Earth (and 99.9% in the USA) already know how you get AIDS. Some just choose to ignore these inconvenient facts.

I don't understand why Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor are so adamant about defending and encouraging the right of men to put their penises in other men's anuses. Does she really care or is it just P.C.? Are the Hollywood stars (I don't mean to pick on them... there are plenty of non-Hollywood types with the same predilections) really concerned about everyone having this option? They always act like AIDS is this mysterious scourge sweeping across the planet, endangering everyone, when in fact, it mainly affects men who engage in this type of sex. And intravenous drug users. Don't get me started on intravenous drug use. I've seen enough of it in the last few months. And Africa. The pathology of AIDS in Africa is not relevant to this rant.

Anyway, I don't really begrudge funding for AIDS research. But let's get real. AIDS is preventable. Diabetes, one of the oldest diseases known to mankind, is not. I will have respect for these Hollywood types when they advocate for diabetes sufferers like they do for AIDS. Surely innocent children are more deserving of compassion than young men who choose to ignore the dangers of unsafe sex.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.