Ann Romney works hard as a stay at home puppet, what with Mitt trying super hard to gain an advantage over President Barack Obama. You see, the far right is trying as hard as they can to create a scandal out of the whole Rosen gaffe that (eye roll) alienated mothers. It hasn't been until around the time of this misstep that Ann has even made much of an appearance to speak for Mitt Romney. Gee, isn't that convenient, guys?
This whole thing is getting old. Fox News and other far-right outlets are practically forcing this whole situation into the faces of the masses, when the real issues aren't at all whether or not this woman has successfully bred and kept her kids from dying. How hard can life be for a woman who has had five housekeepers since 2010 and not even a child in the house since the late 1990s? Well that gives her plenty of time to pander to mothers of all walks of life, which she only shares similarities with one percent of at the most.
Most recently she's called the Rosen gaffe an early birthday present. Guess what, the far right drones and other easy-to-fool types are still eating this woman up even after she's practically thrown it in everyone's faces that she is using this fake scandal as a means to help her husband get ahead.
While republican pundits and desperate anti-liberal bloggers desperately try to inflame this non-scandal into something it isn't, the Romneys are hovering over the whole steaming mess like flies on..well, you know.
So will women in general fall for this nonsense? Will she be looked at as nothing more than a sock puppet in an expensive wig? Recent polls have indicated that women still support President Barack Obama by a 16 point margin, which is only a slight difference from the 18 points prior to what Rosen had said about Mitt's lovely wife.
Speaking of lovely wife, did you know that Ann Romney once sent Mitt a "Dear John" letter while dating another man on the side? You see, Mitt was out on a Mormon mission when Ann began dating Kim S. Cameron. Mitt begged her to wait for him, sending her letters back in return. So get this, the two get hitched as soon as Mitt gets back into town and their first son is born just under a year later. Good for them, but maybe she's as flip-floppy as her hubby?
Raising five boys is tough when your husband is a millionaire and you have a revolving door made out of maids, but what about the rest of America? Hopefully not many women are fooled by this, but it doesn't really seem like they are (unless you only watch Fox News).
Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.
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Comments: 71
It doesn't change the shamefulness of mandatory ultrasound laws as an effort to stamp out abortion by means of harrassing women with an unneeded medical procedure. If you want to talk about the unconstitutionality of the individual insurance mandate, how about the unconstitutionality of requiring women seeking abortion in the first month to be dragged into an ultrasound lab and strapped down to see their tiny fetus in the unlikely event that the technician can find it?
Just cause you love Mormons so much, I thought I'd share something with you. Most missionaries get married within a year of coming home, and most have a baby around their first anniversary. Nothing surprising or weird there.
The issue, at least for me, with Rosen was her damn sarcastic attitude about it. She didn't want to apologize (and shouldn't have cause she didn't mean it).
I don't think Rosen was sorry, and if I were her, I wouldn't be either.
"Dog Wars Escalate: Barack Obama Ate Dog"
*drags knuckles because she wants to fit in*
Oh! BTW Did you see this?
"Obama Lawyer Admits Birth Certificate Is A Forgery"
Oops! LOL!
As for what 'we' go to school for, the same effing things you go to school for.
I don't particularly care for Ann Romney and especially not her husband, but at least I can judge people without condemning them for everything-especially their wealth or religion. You and other libs are constantly going on and on about accepting this, accepting that, but you are some of the most HATE-FILLED human beings I have EVER encountered. Leave me in my little Mormon bubble, at least there people don't judge each other on anything but the CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.
Sorry to say it won't have the legs to get to Nov.
last January Mitt remarked that he wants 'welfare moms' (who tend to be at home with their kids) to have the 'dignity of work'. So, three months ago he felt that staying home with the kids had no dignity.
Unless you have a rich husband, of course.
So no, Rosen wasn't saying anything against mothers, women, or any of the other straw men (or straw women) that the GOP has created out of whole cloth. Her point was directly, clearly, and unambiguously about the hypocrisy of Mitt Romney's touting of his wife as some sort of mentor on "women's economic issues."
That concept is, of course, ludicrous. Mrs. Romney has zero experience dealing with "women's economic issues." She has enjoyed an economic life of comfort, attending private schools when young and then being considerably wealthy for most of her adult life (can we say "dressage"). She chose to be a stay at home mom to their five children and has endured serious medical issues, and done so with aplomb. Everyone acknowledges both her contributions and her tribulations. That isn't the point.
The point is that she has had the major advantage of not having to worry about money while facing motherhood and medical issues. "Women's economic issues" were never even relevant to her decision-making or her ability to successfully raise a family. The same cannot be said for the other 99.9% of women and families. For the "not fabulously wealthy" of us, being a stay at home mom is not always a choice; it may simply be that day care costs would exceed the income generated from working outside the home. For most people a two-income family is a necessity, not a choice (even Mitt has admitted this as he sought to restrict funding for young mothers). And as far as Mrs. Romney's medical issues, most people would have had to worry about both the costs of insurance coverage and the very real possibility that they would be dumped by their carrier for having the audacity to actually make a claim. Mrs. Romney did not have this concern.
The point here is that Rosen's statement gave a perfect opportunity for the Republican party to create their lie and saturate the media with it. Their goal was to use a dishonestly reinterpreted comment by one of the thousands of self-avowed "strategists" as a means of distracting from the Republican party's constant attacks on women's rights.
Remember that prior to this fake controversy arising it was the Republicans who were spending considerable time arguing against something as basic as a women's right to contraception. It is the Republicans who have been trying to roll back the legal right of women to make their own reproductive choices. It is the Republicans who have gone so far as to pass a law saying that women are pregnant two weeks before they even have sex, and that they must undergo an invasive medical procedure and be forced to adhere to the wishes of politicians prior to making the already difficult choice to do something they have the legal right to do. And those are only the most recent examples. The Republican party has a long history of attacking the very issues that allow most women to participate in the American dream. The very "women's economic issues" Mitt Romney ridiculously asserted his wife is his source of guidance.
It's clear why the Republicans have jumped at Rosen's statement and intentionally reinterpreted it in their usual dishonest way - they recognize that American women are tired of having their rights attacked by Republican politicians and extremist religious zealots.
Ann Romney won't help that perception much as long as Governor Bob "vaginal ultrasound" Mc Donald, and his fellow reactionaries insert government into women's health issues and the women themselves with such policies.
I have yet to meet a woman who does your little giggly wife bullshit either.
She's less of a woman because she doesn't believe what YOU believe? So tolerant of you, Cookie.
It's not my job to pay for someone to stay home with their kids.
So, you'd rather pay MORE for someone else to watch their kids so they can have the "dignity" of flipping burgers at McDonalds?!
What I would like to see is welfare provided while they attend college. College paid for too. Then, they become inelligible for any more welfare. I think that would a) educate our workforce and b) save us from supporting people for their entire lives.
But it will never happen because too many people just graduating with student loans still aren't smart enough to see the bigger picture and they would cry, cry, cry that they want their loans paid for too.
I've been on both sides......I have 7 years of college under my belt, with a degree in elementary education and 28 graduate hours, have taught mentally challenged pre-schoolers, as well as a variety of other professions...........when I lost an exceptionally well paying computer job at the Postal Service, I "chose" to become a "stay at home" mom (aka "domestic engineer," as I prefer to call it)...........
You make it sound like I should be ashamed to be at home, even though now, I have become "partly" retired..................
If so, then have fun with that. Assuming that you felt the need to divulge your laundry list of collegiate and career accomplishments I'm going to take a wild guess that you missed the point entirely about what was said about Ann Romney in general.
It probably sounded to you a little something like this "Stay at home mom(keyword) blah blah blah blah blah" -- but in reality, all those blah blah blahs beyond the kewyord that triggered your response, were actually words that formed grammatically correct sentences putting what was said in a context that should be heard altogether and then absorbed. Nothing bad was ever said about "stay at home moms." (in general) -- but plenty can be said about the differences between the majority of mothers and families in america and the plight of whether or not you need one maid or two to accommodate your oh, so difficult existence of having zero financial or economic stress points.
Motherhood is a choice and a commitment and it is respectable; but it's not a career or occupation. That's just the truth and if it be offensive to certain people, then those people need to figure out why the truth of the matter is hurtful and why they feel the need to dress up their choices with inflamed job titles that don't exist. Motherhood is a thankless endeavor, and mothers don't get enough respect. I get that, but there's no reason to purposely make everything about others personal.
I've found that people who do this, have personal issues that they need working out.
For example:
"Ann Romney is a stay-at-home-mother who has never had to work a day in her life."
The sentence is obviously about Ann Romney (she is the subject of the sentence) (is, being the non-active verb) It is NOT about "all" stay-at-home moms. Nor is it about all mom's in general.
What we have here is a prime example of people projecting their personal feelings about inadequacies or sensitivity to how they feel about themselves taking a comment about one woman, which was truthful, and twisting it into being an offensive statement directed to this culture of angry mothers who demand respect like feminazis with diaper bags.
This comment wasn't about you. It wasn't about my mom. It wasn't about anyone else's mom. It wasn't about any of the stay at home moms who have worked who have given to society, who have helped with their family's financial needs who have struggled in this American economy of the top 1% being wealthy while everyone else has to work, work, work, work, work.
The comments, this so called "scandal" is all over ONE woman who has NEVER had to lift a finger of labor in her life to earn money. She has never had to deal with the daily struggles that the MAJORITY of mothers and families alike deal with every single day. She never had to worry about making a WIC appointment, she has never had to worry about getting from point a to point b with a car that didn't work well because it was all that she could afford. She never had to fill out vouchers to get assistance, she never had to put things on layaway ahead of time just to clothe and entertain her children. She never had to "budget" tightly and feed her kids mac and cheese as a side dish because it was economical. Like most Americans have to do on a daily basis.
This isn't a bout "mothers" this isn't about YOU, this isn't about ME. The entire comment was about Ann Romney and it was the freaking truth. Period.
I think it's about time interest groups (including the angry mothers brigade) open their eyes and pay attention to things beyond the keywords that grab their attention and give them something to march angrily about.
opinions are my own though... I don't speak for mothers, nor do I feel the need to. I'm a woman though and I can see plainly what's going on here and I find it pathetic that people who are refusing to read between the lines and pay attention SIMPLY because they've had children and want something to rabble-rouse about because they're getting attention.
again, just my honest opinion.
I am NOT a weak person.......my husband of 33 years, retired last year, after 34 years of being a union trucker.....we have always been hard working people and are proud of it.
I almost lost my precious husband last year....he suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm while driving his ABF truck.....he drove 220 miles WITH the "deadly" aneurysm........4 1/2 hrs. in the operating room, but it's a miracle he's alive.....doctors said 90 to 92% of the people with this die, and die instantly. He is a miracle.....retired and is doing wonderfully well. After that nightmare, we are hoping to do a lot of travelling.
I was just somewhat "disgusted" about some of the insinuations........I was NOT standing up for Ann Romney, or anyone else.....only for myself and what I believe in.
I have been on both sides......it is far more difficult being at home 24/7 and raising children.......we raised our son with OUR morals, not someone else's....I would not have babysitters, daycare, etc........I had our child....I was to be at home to raise him and am proud of it.
I am NOT a weak person and have, personally, been told by several people that I'm one of the "strongest" people they've ever known (just making a statement, NOT bragging).
Thanks so much, Vic, for your kind comments.....they are appreciated!
"Assuming that you felt the need to divulge your laundry list of collegiate and career accomplishments I'm going to take a wild guess that you missed the point entirely about what was said about Ann Romney in general."
I didn't say you were "bragging." Why would you use that word? Do you think you were bragging, even subconsciously?
Please take no offense, as I am just speaking my opinion. But if something isn't about me, then I don't feel the need to "defend myself." For instance.. I could stand to lose a few pounds... but I don't comment on every article that calls the singer Adele a "fatty who can't sing." That's because, the comment isn't about ME because I am fat.. it's about Adele, being an overweight singer.. (which I don't agree with, I find her quite attractive).. Another example.. I am an atheist, but I don't comment on every single article that says Richard Dawkins is a jerk. Why? Because I'm not Richard Dawkins. Get it? I don't need to defend myself against attacks that are not directed toward ME. I don't twist every thing about someone else, to be about me. I'm not "me focused" and I don't expect the world to stop having opinions about other people so that I don't end up offended. I don't understand that type of "logic." I just don't. So forgive me if I offended YOU in some way by pointing out how Ann Romney has led the privileged life that MOST mothers don't have the luxury of having. I apologize if I have somehow offended your sensibilities and self image by pointing out the obvious that Ann Romney doesn't symbolize all of the mothers in the U.S. I am sorry if you somehow drew the connection from Ann Romney to yourself in a way that has turned this into a discussion about you. I am sorry. I will not acknowledge you any further, as AGAIN, this is not about YOU.
While Massachusetts First Lady, she was active in teenage pregnancy prevention efforts. In 2004, she said she was in favor of stem cell research as long as it was done "morally and ethically". One of her rare public appearances at the Massachusetts State House came in 2004 when she lobbied the legislature to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis.
In 2005, the governor appointed his wife as head of a new special office whose purpose was to help the state's faith-based groups gain more federal monies in association with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. This came after the state had seen its share of faith-based grants decline over the preceding three years. In this unpaid Governor's Liaison position, Ann Romney was termed a "dynamo" by Jim Towey, director of the White House office.
She has been involved in a number of children's charities, including being director of the inner city-oriented Best Friends. She worked extensively with the Ten Point Coalition in Boston and with other groups that promoted better safety and opportunities for urban youths. She was given the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from Salt Lake City-based Operation Kids. She has also served as a board member for the United Way of America and helped found United Way Faith and Action.
At the conclusion of her time as Massachusetts First Lady, Romney said that the role "doesn't need to change your life at all. I think it's an opportunity for service and an opportunity to see people of all walks of life from across the Commonwealth...It's an enriching part of your life [and one will] treasure it forever." Her health was still a primary factor in family decisions about her husband's career, and Mitt said in 2005 that if her multiple sclerosis flared up, "I wouldn't be involved in politics anymore; that would be over."
Just thought I would let others know that Ann Romney has not just been sitting on the couch for the last 30 years...
Unless she owns a magical box that spontaneously sprouts money that originates from her and only her......
Lemme scan my comments.. oh lookie, nope.. nothing about a party... Looks like you're the one doing that since you read it where it wasn't. ;)
It'd be nice to do humanitarian things with money I didn't earn.. I'd probably donate to dozens of charities if I had a seemingly endless supply of spontaneous money. But alas, I have to work like the rest of us and have to actually feed my own and budget before thinking about all those fluffy Mitt-funded accomplishments...
(p.s. I *was* a Mitt supporter (on a limited scale, keep in mind) until he became obvious in his pandering and puppetry.)
Again, this is my point about people not comprehending what was said and twisting this into a thing about "hate" or a "war on women" (lol okay)
The fact of the matter is that Ann shouldn't be commenting on the economic context of the lives of american working families and women when she has never had any of the issues in her face that all of us DO face on a daily basis. If you see "hate" in that simplistic point, then I can't help ya, but I find it silly.
If you made a public statement that you understood what it was like to carry a child and a scientist said "this man has never had a vagina a day in his life" -- would you say that's "hate" ?? Because, I would just call that fact.
Think about it that way. ;)
As a Bay Stater, I concur that she was "largely invisible," not even sure if I knew her first name at that time...and, I also concur that, unlike other First Ladies of the state of MA, she added absolutely nothing during her "tenure."
Don't delude yourself into thinking Mrs. Obama enjoys her wealth any less than Romney.
Maybe he took a comment like "...direct correlation between declining mental faculties and tea party membership," as a personal attack. I know I do.
But, I don't want to hear about the economic stresses of moms from either of those women, or any of the other politicians wives or politicians for that matter. They're all rich, so they have no clue. None of them.