That’s it, I’m pulling the Mom-Card and you are all grounded!

Okay, there is a reason that I read the news online instead of watching it on TV. Mostly, it  is because when I am reading something online, if it upsets me or makes me angry I can just click on a new story. You can’t do that on TV, you are stuck watching the whole thing or flipping between channels until its over. This was especially disturbing when my son was in Iraq for a year. I didn’t always want to hear every detail of every event that happened in Baghdad that day. Often, if it was a political story and our former president was commenting on our soldiers, I would yell unkind remarks at the TV. (I was not a great fan of our previous president and even went to visit him at the Bangor Airport when he was here to let him know that). So my family, in general, was very happy when I switched to news online.

However, lately, I find I am occasionally driven to extreme reactions once again, even when only reading the news online. First of all, it is a stretch to consider most of what major news organizations publish these days as actual news!

Additionally, has the entire country gone mad? What is with the violence and the hatred? What is the matter with people? Especially in this political season, I feel like calling a giant, country-wide time-out until everyone can think long and hard about their current behavior!

So here is my list of things that have amused or annoyed me recently –

  1. Toddlers and Tiaras? Please someone tell me why these parents still have custody of their children? I can’t tell you how angry this makes me, as a feminist and as a mother!
  2.  And also, Honey Boo Boo! I don’t know what is more disturbing; this family, the beauty pageant crap or the fact that they call this child “Honey Boo Boo.” Please someone make it stop!  The only thing I found some comfort in was that this show outranked the GOP Convention in ratings this week! I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch money grabbing rednecks sell their 6-year-old daughter on TV instead of Mitt Romney and all the rest of the GOP crew, discuss ending civilization as we know it. (We don’t need no birth control or no science!).
  3. Clint Eastwood at the GOP Convention giving a ridiculous speech to an empty chair! Clearly, someone in this poor, dear, old man’s family needs to intervene and make sure he is taking his medication, as prescribed, daily.
  4. Our veterans are killing themselves faster than the war itself did. As the mother of a combat veteran, and as a human being, every single time I see a headline about record numbers of soldiers who are committing suicide I can hardly contain my anger. Why, why, why? Why are we sacrificing our healthy, intelligent, brave and committed children; either killing them outright over there, or not giving them the care they need when they get back and killing them once they get home! There is no excuse for this. None.
  5. Fix a Flat Butt injection suspect out on bond. People, people; this seems like a given, but clearly not so let me explain this. Do NOT, ever, ever, get cosmetic procedures done for cash in someone’s home and never, ever get cosmetic procedures done by someone who calls themself “Duchess.” These things, if done at all, should be done in a hospital by people who other people refer to as doctor. Got it!
  6. Dear Prince Harry: the cameras are always rolling. Always!
  7. No matter how long it’s been since you cleaned out your refrigerator at home, there is someone whose refrigerator is even worse! And not surprising, people who eat anything, even 39-year-old cheese!
  8. Just when you think our beloved governor couldn’t possibly top his last stupid move – he does! Governor LePage has decided that Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley would be an excellent choice to join the Board of Education. Yes, that’s right, this is the same Bill Beardsley who had both suspicions and warnings about Husson’s former chaplain, Bob Carlson. However, this Mr. Beardsley chose not to bother sharing this information with anyone else, like say the police, or potential victims, or future employers of Mr. Carlson. Yes, I want this man deciding what is best for the students of this state, don’t you?
  9. In case you have been out of the country for the last two weeks, let us not forget Mr. Akin and his mysterious tale about vaginas and eggs who can detect the morals of the woman they reside in and know whether or not they should put up their force fields or just go ahead, lay back and be fertilized. Mr. Akin, the fact that my lap top survived your ridiculous rant is a testament to my occasional bouts of self-control when it comes to watching or reading the news. And thank you Mr. Akin, for proving, once and for all, how dangerous it is NOT to teach sex education in the schools, as yours obviously had no such curriculum.
  10. And last but not least, Mr. Governor, this is Labor Day Weekend! It is not a celebration of any “political ideology.” It is a celebration of the hard-working men and women who built this country and who keep it running, year after year. If I wake up Monday morning and find out that you’ve tried to change the name of the holiday because you feel it is going to promote the “Liberal Agenda” you are grounded. You hear me Mr., grounded!

Happy Labor Day All!

 

Karen Foley

About Karen Foley

Karen Foley, has successfully been writing her blog for the BDN since May 2011. By successful, she means a few people read it, and she has not been sued, stalked or fired since starting it.