I had a couple of hours to myself on Sunday, and stopped by my Department Store of Choice to pick up a couple of things for fall.
Apparently color is out for women this season. Almost everything was black, white, or gray, or, alternatively, brown, khaki, and tan. Ugh. I managed to find a couple of pieces I liked, and the prices were good.
Dear Women’s Fashion People: Please bring back color. (Argyle sweaters notwithstanding.) Thank you. Love, RPM
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Warning: Political Content Ahead
If one thing has been infuriating me lately, it’s all the brou-ha-ha about President Obama’s address to school children today.
He is our President, people. You don’t tell your children that they don’t have to listen to and/or respect their President. You don’t react out of fear and call it protecting your kids from indoctrination. It’s ignorance, plain and simple. What are you teaching your children?
Rational political discussion in this country has flown out the window. Please bring back reasoned discourse. Please bring back critical thinking. Understand that changing your mind isn’t a weakness — it’s a sign that you’ve done the work to be educated.
I know if you’re reading this, I’m probably just preaching to the choir. So forward it; or link to it; or link to some of the other links I have here. It’s time that we stood up to the niche voices (right and left) and said, “Be reasonable. Stop the hate. Stop the doubt. Get educated.”
Here is of my favorite place to get balanced information about politics: Politifact.com. They bring much-needed humor, clarity, and balance to the debate on both sides. For information about the health insurance reform debate, I’ve been checking out Slate’s page of links. I like to know what the REAL arguments against reform are. All-in-all, I still think we need a major change, but I can see the reasonableness of many conservative debates here.
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Finally, on a lighter note, ‘Burgh bloggers were asked by Podcamp Pittsburgh to talk about a local business using social media effectively. I point you to Uncle Crappy who talked about Chris Dilla of Bocktown Beer and Grill, one of my favorite local places to have a microbrew and fries. I will let his words speak for me, too.
Because I’m lazy busy.
Red Pen Mama 
This entire speech debacle has been so frustrating. There was a family on the news this weekend. Both parents were IN TEARS because they didn’t want their precious little “children to be brainwashed by a President who tells lies and shouldn’t even be President because he isn’t American!” Yes, that is a quote.
I’m not quite understanding how telling the nation’s school children to stay in school and be responsible could be viewed as brainwashing material.
At that point, I turned off the tv.
See? That’s the problem. If those parents took the time (and it wouldn’t take much) to do the research, they would discover that, yes, Victoria, the President is an American citizen. But they heard someone say he’s not, and they choose to believe it. Because they want to. Because they want him not to be legitimate. No question. Even my FIL hasn’t run with that one.
Anyone keeping their children home today is teaching them that you don’t have to listen to or engage with someone who doesn’t agree with you. And that’s just wrong. Especially as it applies to the president. I don’t care if they didn’t vote for him — he deserves our respect. I struggled with that for eight years. Now it’s their turn. (Vice Presidents, on the other hand, can be mercilessly lampooned.)
Thanks for the comment!
That middle section has no political content. It does contain, however, a great deal of common sense.
Ha! Thanks.
ciao,
rpm
[…] I know that as a blogger who often writes about her kids, I have been remiss. I didn’t even Twitter about Monkey’s first day! I will take my hand slap and move right along if that’s okay. Maybe I should write more about politics (ha!). […]
On the day of the speech, I wished, briefly, that I had kids just so I could put up a stink IN FAVOR of the dang speech being on my kids’ school’s TV. Two suburbs in central Ohio announced they wouldn’t show it and then reversed because there was backlash from parents who supported the airing of the speech. At one of those schools, just six kids were excused from watching. So that suggests to me their initial plan NOT to air the speech was based on six angry calls. Way to make decisions, stupid suburban school district.