Ann Romney Hasn’t Had It Tough Like Michelle Obama
Pro-Obama flack Hilary Rosen doesn’t think Ann Romney knows squat about economics, because she’s one of those stay-at home moms:
What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, “Well, my wife tells me what women really care about are economic issues.” And, “When I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing.” Guess what? His wife has never actually worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing—in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school, and how do—why we worry about their future.
Dana Loesch (and many others) properly focus on the insult to stay-at-home parents implicit in this statement — but I want to focus on the the other message: Ann Romney doesn’t understand the travails of working families.
Like Michelle Obama does, you mean?
Michelle Obama knows the hard scrabble life of earning over $300,000 a year to be a hospital administrator at a hospital that was trying to get earmarks from her husband, the U.S. Senator:
Join President Obama in fighting earmarks! He has fought them ever since, well, never. This is a guy who sought millions and millions in earmarks when he was a Senator — including, famously, “a request for $1 million in federal funding in 2006 for a new pavilion at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife, Michelle Obama, was a vice president at the time.”
Oddly enough, “Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office.” Almost as if the administrators had an inkling that having her there might help them cash in!
It didn’t work, by the way, despite Barry’s best efforts. The earmark didn’t go through, and her salary was promptly reduced back to $273,618.
And when she left, they didn’t replace her. That’s how critical her job was.
In February 2008, Byron York related the difficulties Michelle faced in getting by:
Michelle Obama is sitting with a group of six women around a table in the basement playroom of the Zanesville Day Nursery, here in economically troubled central Ohio. . . . . “It’s a constant sense of guilt,” Obama, dressed simply in a blue sweater with a triple strand of pearls, tells the women of her own dilemma as a working mother.
. . . .
“I know we’re spending — I added it up for the first time — we spend between the two kids, on extracurriculars outside the classroom, we’re spending about $10,000 a year on piano and dance and sports supplements and so on and so forth,” Mrs. Obama tells the women. “And summer programs. That’s the other huge cost. Barack is saying, ‘Whyyyyyy are we spending that?’ And I’m saying, ‘Do you know what summer camp costs?’”
With all those concerns, one might wonder whether the women should be comforting Mrs. Obama, but she assures them that she’s really O.K. “We don’t complain because we’ve got resources because of our education. We’ve got family structure,” she says. “So I tell people don’t cry for me.”
Don’t cry for me, Argentina.
So you see, if you want a woman who’s been out there fighting the tough economic fight, vote for Barack Obama. Maybe the next time Michelle complains about how tough she had it, she’ll have a quadruple strand of pearls instead of a mere triple.
“Don’t cry for me.” She is such a martyr, isn’t she?
Ghost (6f9de7) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:57 am16 vacations in 3 years … President Obama may need them but why should stay at home Mom Michelle need them ?
I mean maybe if she sruggles with MS and has had cancer I could understand Michelle needing some vacation time …
JeffC (488234) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:02 amI think the only reason the obama people are throwing Hilary under the bus is cause she’s a lesbian
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:03 amNo she’s an RIAA drone, no one likes them.
narciso (dfa41c) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:04 amThe Romney sons have turned out well compared to say the Kennedy sons, eh?
AZ Bob (1c9631) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:05 amTen thousand a year on two kids? My daughter’s surfing trip to Hawaii (excluding the hospitalization) and her trip to Beijing, both last year cost more than that. And then, there’s the math tutor, the Greek tutor, the piano teacher, hip hop lessons, and swim pool memberships (she lost interest in karate and horseback riding). Plus an iPod, an iPad, DS, Wii and the games that go with them, and a new book a week.
Maybe I should run for first lady.
Back when some lady from New York, married to a multi-milionaire with mob ties, was running for Vice-President against Bush senior, she said something similar, criticizing the Bushes for coming from money. Barbara Bush was no shrinking violet. She said, “Yes, we’re rich and we’re not afraid to admit it. Not like that poormouth … I won’t say it but it rhymes with witch”.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:26 amThat Womens Economic Forum turned out well for the pandering president, didn’t it?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:27 amPersonally, I heartily dislike the First Lady; I suspect she would return my sentiments if we ever met in person. But there is no net political upside to criticizing Obama’s wife, and certainly not his daughters, even when they deserve that criticism: (a) Those who are already Obama opponents are likely to also have poor opinions of Mrs. Obama, but that’s not a certainty; and therefore such criticism runs a risk of alienating someone who might otherwise have voted against him. (b) Those who are Obama supporters are likely to be far more incensed — and motivated to political action, including but not limited to voting — by criticism of Mrs. Obama than by policy-based or even personal (character) criticism of him. (c) There may be, in theory, some vanishingly small portion of the voting public who would vote for Obama but for offense taken at Michelle’s statements or actions — but I’ve never yet met such a person, and I believe their numbers are so small as to be swamped by the risks associated with theories (a) & (b).
Others may and should choose according to their own evaluations of which arguments are likely to work and which run an unacceptable risk of backfiring, but such is my choice.
Beldar (8fdc17) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:27 amIn 2008, Rosen derided Republican attacks against Michelle Obama as an example as “stupid strategy.”
“You know essentially, you’ve taken on sort of the most sympathetic person in the candidate’s realm, the wife, who is taking care of the children, supporting the husband, doing everything she can because she loves him,” Rosen said on Anderson Cooper 360 according to a CNN transcript from May 19, 2008.
Neo (d1c681) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:28 amBeldar – Have mercy. Think of the First Lady’s marvelously toned arms!
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:45 amHoly Carp. What were MO’s duties at the hospital… anyone know?
Book (0def8c) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:46 amThis is a straight regime play, Hilary is part of
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:46 amthe same ‘command staff’ at SD Knickerbocker running
Fluke and Julianne Moore, this is not an accident,
Karl – It’s not all negative, by extending unemployment benefits to 99 weeks, the Obama Administration has certainly made it easier for formerly working women to spend more time at home with their kids, so they’ve got that going for them at least.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:49 am“Holy Carp. What were MO’s duties at the hospital… anyone know?”
Book – Patient dumping out of the emergency room back to neighborhood doctors.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:51 amExactly, daleyrocks. Exactly. U of C closed its trauma center and made its emergency room non-comprehensive.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:54 amI disagree with Beldar. Call out da ho. (In da language her hos understands.)
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:55 amdouble standards or there would be none at all;
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/04/depends-on-the-meaning-of-the-rights-of-women-everywhere/
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:56 amYou don’t lick the enemy by licking her behind.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:59 amHoly Carp. What were MO’s duties at the hospital… anyone know?
Wasn’t she also involved in one of those “disenfranchised community outreach” programs too? For $300K a year I imagine her day was something like this:
9:30 am — arrive at office
10:00 am — email, paper pushing
11:00 am — silly and pointless meetings
noon — lunch
1:30 — email, paper pushing
2:30 — silly and pointless meetings
3:30 — leave for the day to fetch the kids from school
Everyone else has probably heard this, but Mrs. Obama’s job was so important to the hospital and so vital towards them carrying out their mission, that once her husband was elected to the Senate and they left for Washington her position was eliminated rather than somebody new being hired.
JVW (4d72aa) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:00 amI have long been saying that the official motto of the DNC is a “…that’s different…” accompanied by a snotty foot stomp.
Check out Hillary Rosen’s hypocrisy regarding women and family:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/04/depends-on-the-meaning-of-the-rights-of-women-everywhere/
Fact is, this isn’t about feminism. It’s about alphabetism. If it’s “D” all Leftists seem to get on board.
I should have remembered how the feminists continued to love Bill Clinton. Sheesh.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:01 amSorry, narciso. You beat me to it!
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:02 am______________________________________________
Michelle Obama knows the hard scrabble life
She sure can sound like it:
“Me and Barack”
Wasn’t there once sort of an ideal — or idealized — image that various people had of the types most likely to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
America truly jumped the shark back in November 2008, preceded and fostered by the nation’s “first black president” (aka Bill Clinton) and his noble behavior in the Oval Office (with cigars, interns, etc).
We’re well on our way to becoming the world’s biggest Banana Republic.
Mark (411533) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:04 amSay what you want, she is a good mother to her children. Know that personally. Don’t know about him. But she is not our mother.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:04 amBut she’s so into helping the military families. You know, the ones she never even acknowledged existed until last year when he suddenly had to start running for office again. She is such a phony baloney. You’d think she was auditioning to be a tv star as many programs as she has been on. Btw, are they paying her for her appearances or just funding O’s reelection? And don’t forget she is such a fashion icon.
PatAZ (71841d) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:11 amI have a ten year old. She watches iCarly. She told me she wanted to watch one program because (I heard) “Miss Alabama” would be on it. It’s a running joke with us now.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:29 am_______________________________________________
And don’t forget she is such a fashion icon.
You gotta give her credit for that…
Hot babe, hot mama—even in front of a bunch of kids!
Mark (411533) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:39 am-Comment by nk — 4/12/2012 @ 8:59 am-
I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for the brief mental flash I got before my brain shut down. I may not be able to sleep for days, and I have been trying to shift my sleep patterns back to something more sensible.
Machinist (b6f7da) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:39 am‘goggles they do nothing’
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:46 amShe’s a handsome woman, Machinist, but I apologize anyway. Just couldn’t resist the play on words.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:46 amIronic as Alanis Morisette would say;
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/rosen-hired-wasserman-schultz-media-consulting/477051
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:04 amWait, so… acknowledging that the jab at Ann Romney is obvious class warfare, is this counter-class-warfare, or a clown-nose-on/clown-nose-off moment, or what?
I’m so confused!
The easy way to avoid hypocrisy here is to be pro-class-warfare.
Leviticus (624ba1) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:10 amOn my part, it’s just empty words from two worthlesss clowns who, if not for for the grace of Tony Reza, would be on welfare and foodstamps, Leviticus. Your mileage may vary.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:13 amMore than fair. I’m just thinking maybe we should be talking about four worthless clowns.
Leviticus (624ba1) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:16 amHas the hospital filled that important job Michelle “worked”?
May the Romneys, like the Obamas, can have their next door neighbor/felon pal give them half a lot adjacent to their home to help out. And after all , getting a half acre of primo real estate for nothing is not a big deal, right? While Obama called it “a mistake” he’s never given it back while Rezko went to jail.
The Obama campaign is making a very serious mistake if they are going to call attention to prior employment, religion and background. Becasuse in every way the Romneys, while rich and Mormon, are neither freaky nor grifters. If the Obama campaign wants that, yes, let’s have that discussion for real this time. Give Romney this-he has shown hismelf to be a much harder campaigner than I imagined. This will not be a rerun of McCain pulling his punches.
Bugg (34ad0e) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:20 amThere isn’t any logic to it, as the attacks on Palin, a successful executive, and mother of 5.
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:21 amshow,
Also recall Micehlle’s Div. 1 basketball coach brother was all set to get canned by Oregon State when, miracle of miracles, an earmark came through for the school. And Craig Robinson kept his job despite being a lousy basketball coach. It’s so good to have friends and goverment money to throw around.
Michelle was the highest-paid employee of the hospital, higher than any doctor nore surgeon nor researcher. But again the job is to this day unfilled.
Bugg (34ad0e) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:27 am“Ironic as Alanis Morisette would say;”
narciso – Deb needs all the help she can get. Reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack:
“Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it.”
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:29 amOverstep and tone deaf.
Rush read from a 90’s newspaper article on Mrs. Romney. They were married and living in a baseroom apartment in college, living off of selling stock bought by “Romney’s birthday money over the years”. Bare cement floors that she stitched carpet remnants together to cover, used a door for a desk for the two; first baby came, sawed legs off of a bassinett and put it on the desk as well; did most of her studying with child on lap.
In addition, has dealt with MS and is a breast cancer survivor.
Mrs. Romney may be in a pretty place right now, but she is not the role model for being born and raised as a princess who graduated from a silver spoon to silver goblets.
Maybe they should take some advice from Jim Croce and not mess with people until they know who they are messing with.
Of course, simply not being mean-spirited would probably be a big help, too.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:32 am“I’m so confused!”
Leviticus – So is Rosen. Was Rosen lying in 2008 and prior statements or is she lying now? Is it all just meaningless political posturing? You decide.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:32 am“I stand with @hilaryr. Her point last night was dead on. Here is her follow up. huff.to/IU6sfS via @HuffingtonPost”
SHOCKA! Moron David Shuster joins war on stay-at-home moms.
Democrats are just equal opportunity demonizers of conservative women. They go after working women such as Sarah Palin or stay-at-home women such as Ann Romney. The commonality is the political affiliation.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:48 amThat must be why Julianna left him, then again he
still works at current;
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/rosens-firm-deeply-involved-war-women/477191
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 10:50 amMichelle grew up a block from where I grew up in Chicago. It was years later, of course, but the contrast in that neighborhood from then and now is striking. It is called South Shore and is walking distance from the lake, which moderates the temperature, sort of like Santa Monica. When I lived there it was probably the nicest neighborhood in the city, close to the park, a country club on the lake, the EL to downtown. The Catholic church, St Philip Neri, was almost a cathedral.
Now, it has the highest crime rate in the city. I wonder what changed ?
Mike K (326cba) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:11 amIt’s like those Russian matryoska dolls;
http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/12/pro-marriage-group-thinks-irs-employee-leaked-mitt-romneys-donor-info-to-human-rights-campaign/
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:23 am_____________________________________________
pro-marriage-group-thinks-irs-employee-leaked-
When Obama just recently funneled an additional $500 million to the IRS, to assist them with implementing ObamaCare, it’s not hard to believe that bureaucracy is full of workers who are in the tank for a big-government leftist like Obama. Never mind that the current administration is also known to have its fair share of tax cheats and others who create extra paperwork and burdens for the very same IRS—but also the types who, if they themselves were employees of the IRS, would be more likely to bend the rules and even act upon illegal requests.
Mark (411533) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:40 amThe Democrats War on Women rages on.
Noodles (3681c4) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:42 amNothing is as it seems
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/12/Rosen-Apologizes
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:45 amShe apologized so now we can move on to other matters. Right?
Maybe if Zimmerman had just apologized …..
Apology = kiss the boo-boo and make it all better.
Old Bob (f359d9) — 4/12/2012 @ 11:59 amJust consider the source. And narciso is right… this is no accident, it’s all by design. They put it out there and then act like they had nothing to do with putting it out there.
Colonel Haiku (c1775a) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:19 pmThis was sloppy on their part, the point of such an exercise, is not to leave any footprints,
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:22 pmI agree Colonel. They can’t argue the issues. This kind of thing is all they have (even though Obama’s last campaign was supposed to change all that).
Noodles (3681c4) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:26 pmIn 2008, Rosen derided Republican attacks against Michelle Obama as an example as “stupid strategy.”
“You know essentially, you’ve taken on sort of the most sympathetic person in the candidate’s realm, the wife, who is taking care of the children, supporting the husband, doing everything she can because she loves him,” Rosen said on Anderson Cooper 360 according to a CNN transcript from May 19, 2008.
Comment by Neo — 4/12/2012 @ 8:28 am
— “True for thee, but not for me!”
Icy (e372e3) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:27 pm“She apologized so now we can move on to other matters. Right?”
Even Wasserman Schultz threw her under the bus.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:35 pmGiven how hard Michelle Obama worked to keep partial-birth abortion legal in 2004, I guess she figured that killing children is more economical than raising them.
Michelle Obama’s partial birth abortion fundraising letter
CrustyB (69f730) — 4/12/2012 @ 12:39 pmWhere is foxbat with all that good advice today?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 1:43 pmhttps://twitter.com/#!/iowahawkblog
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 2:55 pmOld bob sounds remarkably like ol bub aka Jason/Ryan/etal
JD (bf9ca8) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:22 pmWatching Carnie try to deny that Hilary Rosen has been to the White House 35 times was comical. He knows 3 Hilary Rosens.
JD (bf9ca8) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:24 pmAnn Romney is it cold in your little corner of the world?
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:28 pmIt depends on your definition of “been to” and “house,” JD.
Simon Jester (e3321e) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:29 pmAnd is it really true that the DNC hired Hilary Rose to school Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on how to deal with the media? No wonder we are going broke.
Simon Jester (e3321e) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:34 pm#56 – I thought the sarc/ tag was unnecessary
Old Bob (f359d9) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:48 pmMy bad. Lo Siento.
JD (318f81) — 4/12/2012 @ 3:57 pmgood can come of it
Colonel Haiku (c1775a) — 4/12/2012 @ 4:27 pmno work for Comm Consultant
EPIC FAIL, Rosen!
sneering and b*tching
Colonel Haiku (c1775a) — 4/12/2012 @ 4:31 pmCarney knows many Rosens
WarOnWomensFail!
Okay, then.
She most prominently served as the Recording Industry Assn. of America’s chief executive from 1998 to 2003, where she was known for leading the group’s effort to force the shutdown of Napster, a music-sharing online site that ran afoul of U.S. copyright laws.
When Rosen departed the RIAA, she cited a need to spend more time with her children as one of the reasons.
Guess she wanted time off to do nothing.
Dana (4eca6e) — 4/12/2012 @ 4:41 pma Napster War vet
Colonel Haiku (c1775a) — 4/12/2012 @ 4:46 pmand Rosen crying “Uncle!”
pleasing to the ear
Going back to the original statement, the point trying to be made, as P says, had nothing to do about whether stay at home moms “work” vs “sit around”, but that Ann Romney, as a stay at home mom, did not know about the economy and what it is like to try to get a job in the marketplace. This line of attack was made to discredit Mitt, as when he had been questioned about “what do women think” he deferred to what his wife told him about what women were saying to her. (“It’s the economy, not oral contraceptives we’re worrying about!!”)
I’m not trying to defend the attack at all, just trying to think through the kerfuffle with the Romney response. I think Mrs. R talked about the hard work a stay at home mom did, which was not really addressing the attack, but making a subtle counter-attack, either by default/mistake or by design.
At that point Ms. R (Rosen) could have responded, “I’m sorry you took my comment to mean stay at home moms don’t work, of course they work, but what I was referring to was knowing what it was like to be in the work force and deal with the economy from the perspective of someone looking for a job in the marketplace”. But she didn’t, she doubled down with a veiled snark about women who raise kids at home and work in the marketplace as well.
Of course, to have clarified the discussion would have been to redefine a losing argument, as Mrs. R. could have said, “Whether a woman is at home as a full time mom, is working full time without children, or doing both, a woman knows about the economy just fine, for if it is not her own job in the marketplace she is worried about, it is the job of her
husbandpartner, or both of their jobs.Now, I don’t know if there was a conscious strategy for Mrs. R to answer as she did rather than address the intended issue. This is the kind of thing where the issue is not clear communication, but winning the perception. IMO, FWIW, it would be best to try to win the perception with the clear intended truth, that way one does not get tied into knots. The problem for Ms. R was that she didn’t really have a valid logical point once the attempted humorous snark failed.
Any thoughts, campaign advisors?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 5:18 pm“The problem for Ms. R was that she didn’t really have a valid logical point once the attempted humorous snark failed.”
MD in Philly – I thought it was especially silly after Mrs. R politely pointed that she had been on the campaign trail for a year talking to women all over the country and all they were talking about was jobs, the economy and government debt. It was a very much in your face moment for Ms. R who must live in a Beltway Bubble to miss that obvious comeback.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 5:28 pmI mean, I get it. The idea from the Left is to paint the Romneys as rich people, who don’t understand regular folk. And the Romneys are rich.
But the concept of BHO and HR implying that they are “like regular folks” is both condescending and ridiculous. How much does HR make? And here we have BHO saying that he and Michelle could not afford to live on one salary—heck, at one point Michelle was making over 300K at that sinecure job in Chicago. Why didn’t her husband stay home with the kids?
So it’s backfiring class war, mixed with what sure smells like gender war.
“Tone deaf” does not begin to describe it. And Romney is the one out of touch?
Simon Jester (e3321e) — 4/12/2012 @ 5:39 pmHave you seen the price of arugula lately?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/12/2012 @ 5:42 pmSDK’s record is not particularly sterling, just about now, we got some mileage with Fluke, until
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 5:47 pmMaher and co, stepped on their line, ‘Game Change’
despite being promoted everywhere but the Animal Channel. was less than boffo ratings, and now Hillary ‘went on the lam, and then they cheesed
her’
Palin just made an excellent point: the same people who slam Ann Romney for being a stay-at-home mother of 5 slammed Palin for not staying at home with her 5 children.
Colonel Haiku (c1775a) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:12 pm#54: Gee daleyrocks, miss me already? I guess a game plan that depends on the other side throwing the ball directly to your free safety is a sure winner.
Yeah. Keep running that play.
foxbat (6ef50f) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:21 pmI still don’t know an arrugula if it jumped out of a salad and stuck it’s tongue out at me.
And I don’t find the idea of eating fish eggs appealling, no matter how much they cost.
And I don’t play golf.
Colonel- SP’s right, but it’s a very old point, almost 2,000 years, actually. “John came from the desert and you said he had a demon, I come eating and drinking and you say I’m a glutton”.
Those Alinskyites should remember that in a battle of twisting words, lucifer lost.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:29 pmAnd I don’t find the idea of eating fish eggs appealling, no matter how much they cost.
And I don’t play golf.
It is like I never even knew you.
JD (318f81) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:41 pmInteresting translation of Luke there, MD. Your’s?
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:51 pmYou like fish eggs, JD? Do Asian Carp have tasty eggs? I’m confused.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 6:52 pmRoe, in it’s various permutations, I am a fan of. Tobiko, masago, salmon roe, wasabi, hot pepper.
JD (318f81) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:00 pmYes, nk, it was a (very) loose paraphrase. I do not translate from the Greek text. I think it captures the basic point, or do you disagree?
But hey, I’ve got a question for you. Frequently in the New Testament there is the phrase “free gift”, typically referring to God’s forgiveness or salvation or similar. Could the original Greek have the sense of “priceless gift”, as in a “free gift” is a “gift without a price” or a “priceless gift”? The import being that in our culture anyway a “free gift” is often something cheap and not highly valued, which is very different from being given a gift that is “priceless”, though in both cases one did not buy it with money. I tried looking it up in a reference without success.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:02 pmI think that Mrs. Romney answered in a very direct and honest way. I don’t think she is capable of being anything but direct and honest. In her life, she opted to stay home with her five boys and be as present in their lives as she could. Thus, her answer, by default was a judgement against women on the left. In turn, Ms. R attempted to beat down an honest woman giving an honest answer with snark and bite. And it backfired.
The war on women by women on the left is nothing new. It’s actually s.o.p and rather boring. There’s nothing new and the tearing down of Palin revealed the vicious rule of the bitch in modern feminism.
But, the part of this that I find so interesting is Ms. Rosen’s utter lack of self-awareness and her complete tone-deafness. She is a political strategist and she didn’t have the foresight to see where this would go? This was one of the stupidest moves I’ve seen in a while.
Dana (4eca6e) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:09 pmI think the word, is grace. which is ‘god’s unmerited favor,
narciso (871b3e) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:12 pmΧαρη? Tranliterated, “Chare”? Grace? Charity? Indulgence? Something given just because, nothing you’ve done, no covenant. That’s what Christ brought.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:13 pmOi Chares, The Graces a/k/a the Fates, were the three old ladies who spun men’s lives, measured them, and cut them, in Greek mythology. Gifts may be free but not without consequences.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:18 pmSo, nk and narciso, in Romans 6:23 and Eph 2:8, the word rendered in English as “gift” (of God) is the same word translated as “grace” (“Charis”?) elsewhere? My thought, maybe more of the impression of varying connotations in English than found in the Greek, is the difference between God’s unmerited favor being a free “cheap” gift or a free “priceless”/”without price” gift. Hence the confusion of what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”.
Thanks Dana for the thoughts on Mrs. R.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:35 pmRead the post again? Maybe this time concentrating especially on Michelle’s comments to the poor women?
“Don’t cry for me.” Really?
Patterico (feda6b) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:43 pmIt exists in modern Greek, MD. “Kaneme mou mia chare”, do me a favor. “Sou to charizo”, I grant your point. “Mou charise ena machairi”, he gave me a knife as a gift.
Greek and English are cognate languages, both through the German and French(Latin) sides.
I’ve read the Bible in the original koine and just about every other translation available. It’s the cheapest book you can buy and I lived within walking distance of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. But if God ever lets me get near Him, I’ll grab His beard and kick him where it hurts.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:44 pmWho criticized his daughters?
As for criticizing his wife, let’s keep in mind the context of the post. I am not criticizing Michelle out of the blue. I am responding to a Democrat characterization of Romney’s wife by pointing out that the same characterization can apply to Michelle . . . but throw in a heaping helping of irony in the sense that Michelle doesn’t really get that she is no different. Her super-demanding high-paying job appears to have been created to curry favor with the Senator, and was eliminated once she left . . . and her attitude towards the poor women is clueless in the extreme.
Are we to watch attacks on Ann Romney and stand mute regarding points like this, lest we worry about offending someone? My judgment is no.
Patterico (feda6b) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:48 pmLong time time ago, I saw a Goebbels film of little Jewish children dying of starvation on a Berlin sidewalk because nobody would sell them or give them food. Good Germans, ladies in nylons and high heels, stepping over them going about their business. I did not stop believing in God, not really, I started hating him. Maybe I should not watch Goebbells propaganda?
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 7:53 pmgood german ladies
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:13 pmin nylons and high heels oops!
Don’t step on the jew!
Could have been an Athens sidewalk. Or Salonica. The Turks rescued the Shepardic Jews from the Spanish Inquistion and they settled in the Ottoman Empire and stayed when the Sultan left. Then Himmler came.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:17 pmI’ll grab His beard and kick him where it hurts.
The prophet Jeremiah said worse. He also was upset over seeing starving Jewish children, though many of his tirades were more selfish in nature, like protesting getting tossed into a well and left for dead (“If this is the way you treat people who follow you, no wonder you have so few”- from a different person than Jeremiah, but same sentiment).
Not everyone let Jewish children starve. There are documented stories of many non-Jews who risked their lives and lost their lives in Germany and occupied countries, typically because of their understanding of their Christian faith, at least all of the examples I know.
The Grand Inquisitor’s complaint against God in The Brother’s Karamozov is the suffering of little children. A most disturbing part of the Bible for me is where the young children are slaughtered by Herod in his attempt to prevent the rise of a new King.
If interested, the best book by far that I’ve come across on the “Problem of Evil” is Making Sense out of Suffering by Peter Kreeft. It is written in a dialogue style more at the level of a high school or undergrad, but if you can get past that I found it more helpful than anything in 500 level philosophy of religion class in college or other books by Lewis and others.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:24 pmThis mistake by the Demo operatives illustrates the bubble that they live in.
They probably were slapping themselves on the back when they put Hillary Rosen on the television show.
Boy they were shocked when it blew back in their face.
Now Rosen is dead meat.
AZ Bob (1c9631) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:30 pmbum Axelrod says
Colonel Haiku (91cd06) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:34 pmRosen works for CNN
not the Democrats.
Mormon womens
Colonel Haiku (91cd06) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:36 pmstay home to raise their children
live within their means
This has been an unbelievable and yes, “unexpected” gift from the left. It had been said that Ann Romney is a smart and formidable campaigner. It was also felt that she would be warmly embraced by the American public if she could just get around the media’s biased framing curtain. But she needed to be seen and heard. She needed to get her name and her story out there, define herownself and be seen as more than Mitt’s little blonde wife. In 24 hours all that that has happened in a way no one could have possibly anticipated. The written press, op-eds, TV interviews and sympathetic polls have made her front and center at a perfect time in the campaign. Ann Romney has responded appropriately and has acquitted herself with poise and dignity. Thank you Hilary Rosen for being the catalyst.
elissa (c8df1b) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:39 pm“Not everyone let Jewish children starve”.
We didn’t. Well, not me I was not born yet, but by an uncle and great uncles. They fought the Germans, on the border and in guerilla warfare on Taygetus. Father and two sons were captured and executed by the Nazis. Took a while longer for the Communists to kill my uncle. His woman expecting a daughter.
nk (52d02a) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:39 pmRe: #95… well said, elissa. As my wife reminded me earlier this evening, active female members of Ann Romney’s church are usually highly capable public speakers, leaders and do-ers. The women’s organizations in their church prepare them for these activities… from the age of 5 through adulthood, their lives are filled with opportunities to serve others.
I think the same can be said of other faiths, but Mormons seem to value and to nurture these qualities “in spades”.
Colonel Haiku (91cd06) — 4/12/2012 @ 8:50 pmHillary Rosen has visited the White House more times than the Obama cabinet.
What does that tell you about Obama’s leadership?
AZ Bob (1c9631) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:07 pmIn the future please refrain from using the words “Obama” and “leadership” in the same sentence, AZ Bob. The cognitive dissonance is too great.
elissa (c8df1b) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:13 pmAnd is it really true that the DNC hired Hilary Rose to school Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on how to deal with the media?
— They hired her to soften the washerwoman’s image.
Talk about putting lipstick on a pig!
Icy (e372e3) — 4/12/2012 @ 9:29 pmIf spouses go out on the campaign trail for their husbands, then criticizing them is part of the deal. Otherwise, they get to be some untouchable PR tool and I don’t think that’s healthy in politics.
Rosen’s problem wasn’t criticizing Ann Romney- it was that in criticizing Romney she pretended to know just exactly how “women” should be defined for politicians. “Women” should have certain specific concerns and life experiences, otherwise they just shouldn’t participate in the conversation about “women’s issues”. And a politician (like Mitt) who doesn’t understand that women need government is a really old fashioned kind of guy (as if all men don’t want to be Don Draper. But that’s another issue. No woman wants to be Betty Draper).
MayBee (b8c735) — 4/13/2012 @ 3:16 amYou have a lot to be proud of. Sometimes it seems like bravery is in short supply. We have it too easy and are soft.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/13/2012 @ 3:18 am102- God Bless your family.
sickofrinos (44de53) — 4/13/2012 @ 3:38 amThat’s appreciated. They are holding up, if you’re talking about what I assume you are.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/13/2012 @ 3:40 am96-103 was for your family. sorry.
sickofrinos (44de53) — 4/13/2012 @ 3:40 amMy mistake.
I agree, Sickofrinos. God bless nk’s family.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/13/2012 @ 4:05 amThank you, but death by violence runs in the family. My grandfather and my great uncle both left 78 East Superior Street, Chicago to go to Greece and fight in the first Balkan War, the prelude to WWI. Both saw their firstborns killed in WWII and its aftermath.
When I was in the hospital, the doctors asked me about causes of death in my family history. I said, “bullets”.
On my mother’s side, I had an uncle who was a professional assassin during the Greek Civil War of 1949. He got three separate death sentences commuted to eleven years in prison. He died when his truck went off a mountainside at age 72.
nk (52d02a) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:33 amThat lady, Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood to get rid of the dark races would have been disappointed. My grandfather lost two sons but he sent four others and a daughter back to Chicago. We’re here, we’re staying, and we are many. I wasn’t much fertile but my cousins are. Last count, my grandfather had 200 descendants counting the daughters and sons in law. 😉
nk (52d02a) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:42 amI can document the family history back to 1832. I mean with documents, like the deed to our lands.
Oral history, I am descended from Albanian mercenaries and Greek rebels and reconstructed Turks.
nk (52d02a) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:50 amBTW, the Greeks wiping out Mussolini’s army on the Albanian frontier, making him irrelevant for the rest of WWII, was the first victory against the Axis. My uncle, who was later killed by communists, fought there.
I’m getting maudling in my old age. I’ll stop.
nk (52d02a) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:55 amIf Ann Romney were a high school drop-out, had five children out of wedlock, was receiving food stamps, welfare checks, had a tattoo of a teardrop below her eye, and had never worked a day in her life except for the one week she worked the fryer at McDonald’s prior to being fired for insubordination,…she’d be a hero to Hillary Rosen.
Elephant Stone (0ae97d) — 4/13/2012 @ 8:07 amI went to bed shortly after my last comment last night. Yes, respect and honor for those with the courage to act.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 4/13/2012 @ 8:50 am“she’d be a hero to Hillary Rosen.”
Elephant Stone – Only if she was a registered Democrat and pro-choice.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/13/2012 @ 9:05 amDid Obama Pay a Lower Rate Than His Secretary?
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/04/13/obama-pay-secretary/
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/13/2012 @ 10:40 amAmerica needs a 1st. lady. Mrs. Romney works for me.
sickofrinos (44de53) — 4/13/2012 @ 4:53 pmI find Ann Romney to be quite likable.
It’s as predictable as the sun rising that family is hit with attacks early on.
Once again, a great time for Obama to speak up as a leader and call this wrong. The way Mccain would call for civility for Obama.
Family is off limits.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:04 pmHer expressions and reaction to circumstances that are out of her control seem to be quite refreshing.
sickofrinos (44de53) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:20 pmShe has better instinct that Mitt it seems, we know
narciso (aedbc1) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:46 pmObama had no intention of actually abiding by that
injunction, as he was supporting those who were
spreading the most vile insinuations, about his true rival, who wasn’t McCain,
BEyond parody really;
http://www.therightscoop.com/andrea-mitchell-cant-pin-rosens-comments-on-obama-because-his-wife-is-a-homemaker/
narciso (aedbc1) — 4/13/2012 @ 5:52 pmWhen I was younger and a ski bum, I stayed with a few morman families off and on, the moms cared about everyone and they made sure the kids understood morals and values.
sickofrinos (44de53) — 4/13/2012 @ 6:08 pmIt occurs to me that Ann Romney’s feminism is actually feminine. Like, she’s on trial for devoting herself to being a mother.
This is unlike the feminism of women and men having identical roles in life… trying to fit themselves into molds that are created by some weird theory instead of using their one life on Earth to be what they really want to be.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:26 amwhy liberal Democrats hate Ann Romney… and other stay-at-home mothers:
http://t.co/nD8Y6IG6
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:32 amMy lefty friends are in a snit, saying that Rosen only meant to criticize Mitt for referring to his wife for information on how the economy was affecting the lives and prospects of women. She could not possibly have any information to offer that Mitt should be relying on.
Well, that plan backfired, didn’t it.
SarahW (b0e533) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:39 amThey chose to make her working life the target.
As if somehow she had never had to struggle or never had to balance obligations.
That “War on Women” thing seems to have backfired on Axelrod, etc.
Hilary Rosen phone home!
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:40 amMitt was saying he respected his wife’s opinion. He was not saying his wife was involved directly in anything relating to the topic.
I respect my wife’s opinion on many things she’s read books about, but has not experienced directly. Intelligent people who respect eachother can discuss things they are informed about but have not personally done.
Family is off limits. I bet Mitt has no intention of criticizing Michelle Obama. The rules for democrats are different, though.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:45 amI watched Megyn Kelly’s show yesterday and found this brief focus group session of interest… especially the plump self-described liberal democrat’s (up in the left hand corner of the group) take on the issue. The looks on the other women’s faces when she utters her (and I’ll paraphrase) “Ann Romney’s one important job each day is to unzip her man” comment is telling.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=focus%20group%20on%20megyn%20kelly%20re%3A%20ann%20romney&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fon-air%2Famerica-live%2Findex.html&ei=15qJT9emA-TXiAL06sS2Cw&usg=AFQjCNG36DO1EfHSeTfVlNxUN0Gy32JowA&cad=rja
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:47 amabout 3:40 into to the clip…
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:52 amThat’s awful, Haiku. The comment he’s referring to is around 3:50 in the above video.
It’s like they think Ann Romney is less than human and fair game for disgusting attacks.
This isn’t about pitying Ann. This is about having an intelligent discussion of policy instead of the constant attack on families of politicians. The real impact of these attacks is that many decent people simply will not enter politics. Family is off limits.
And moms understand economic issues that affect moms. I know this is a shock, but a lot of women are moms and deal with a lot of economic issues as a result. It’s harder than it should be to be a single breadwinner home, and many moms see that every time they go to the grocery store and deal with the business of raising children.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:58 amCross posted with Haiku.
Dustin (330eed) — 4/14/2012 @ 8:58 amH8ters gotta h8te
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 9:28 amcan’t handle feminine role
Lib Misogyny
War on Motherhood
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 9:41 amTeh Vagina Warriors
full frontal attack
@ Col Haiku,
The looks on the other women’s faces when she utters her (and I’ll paraphrase) “Ann Romney’s one important job each day is to unzip her man” comment is telling.
I just watched the clip. While I believe it a crude and insulting comment toward Ann Romney, I really wish Megan Kelly had pushed back: “Are you saying that a woman who has opted to stay home to raise her children has no value at the end of the day other than unzipping her man?” Make her publicly say precisely what she meant, because frequently people making those sorts of outlandish comments haven’t thought it through but are just being smart alecs and when asked to explain themselves, come up very short and often realize they really didn’t mean that, or start to back pedal quickly. It not only exposes the fool they are, but that they are narrow-minded and anything but progressive in their views.
Dana (4eca6e) — 4/14/2012 @ 9:59 amDana… yep, Kelly (or even some of the focus group) should have pushed back big time on that. But the self-proclaimed liberal dem0crat did a pretty good job of exposing herself and that end of the spectrum.
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 10:06 am“If I had a daughter, she would look like Ann Romney.”
– Rush Limbaugh
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 10:09 amAs a PR shill, Rosen had to know what she was saying; she was ON the reservation and trying to sell a point of view.
If her notions were generally insulting (and later doubled-down on) the obvious misfire is amusing.
To have Rosen essentially referred to as just some guy in the neighborhood by Obam – that was priceless.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 4/14/2012 @ 10:19 amMitt was saying he respected his wife’s opinion. He was not saying his wife was involved directly in anything relating to the topic.
Of course. She’s just a Stepford wife, though! No imagination. No struggle evah. No clue about juggling obligations or self-vs-family. Plus how can she know what it is to be a bride of the state when she has one of those old-fashioned husband thingies.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 4/14/2012 @ 10:22 am“A woman who lives in extreme wealth and has a team of servants to handle the parts of staying at home that really are hard work—you know, like all the endless cleaning—really has no idea what it’s like to either be a working mother or what it’s like to live as most stay-at-home mothers do.
Because the Ann Romney of today has such a short memory — maybe it was the cancer she survived or the MS she deals with now? — that her early years as a undergrad, married, first time mom living in a $75/month basement apartment have flown completely away. What a dumb [expletive of your choice].
“War on Women”, indeed.”
– Darlene Click
Colonel Haiku (f48145) — 4/14/2012 @ 10:26 amDarlene Click nailed it in her taut response to that silly quote about “teams of servants” (both posted above by the Col.). The Dem attack dogs are obviously going for a TWOFER–trying to conflate their war on women theme with the class warfare theme. That’s gonna take a whole lot more finesse than the fever swamps and screaming media possess, IMO.
I read somewhere that Axelrod’s trying to re-package and re-use against Romney the “he’s an effete out of touch rich guy” that they believe was successfully used by the right against John Kerry in 20004. When all is said and done (and despite the Dem’s “best” PR efforts), though, I think most Americans will see there’s a big difference between the Romney family story and the unlikeable co-opportunist John Kerry/Theresa Heinz-Kerry duo.
elissa (eae9cf) — 4/14/2012 @ 11:11 am“Ann Romney’s one important job each day is to unzip her man”
From Col’s link at #127 (Megan Kelly’s panel of women weighing in on Rosen/Romney kerfuffle) also brings to light the sexual objectification of Ann Romney by the woman commenting above – a woman who identifies herself as a liberal democrat. Irony in the extreme. It’s disheartening to see her disdain for another woman who happens to be wealthy, chooses to stay at home and raise her kids, and is white. Her disdain and hatred cannot logically be explained because it is an irrational emotionally driven response that follows the prescribed narrative, thus she is reduced to reducing Ann Romney as a sex object.
She does the very thing that women continually excoriate men for doing. And she does it with smug justification (in her own eyes). This is why I find liberal women so difficult to engage with. They are either just dumb, playing dumb, or can’t get past their own emotions to logically discuss the issue.
(And it’s amusing to note she sees it as a job, as opposed to a joy, a pleasure, an expression of love. Her objectification is running amok.)
We’ve come a long way, baby? Meh.
Dana (4eca6e) — 4/14/2012 @ 1:14 pmIF Ann Romney’s “lack of experience” makes her inherently less qualified to make public comments about the economy, then shouldn’t welfare recepients be disqualified from voting, you know, since they lack “experience” ?
Also, Obama never worked a day in his life in the private sector—so, shouldn’t that automatically disqualify him from publicly commenting on the private sector ?
Elephant Stone (0ae97d) — 4/14/2012 @ 1:28 pmDidn’t Teh Obe work for a private law firm for a spell?
JD (8b4fa9) — 4/14/2012 @ 1:33 pmIf you believe Sarah Palin was a bad mother because she ran for office, and Mrs Romney is not entitled to her views because she was a stay at home mother, #youmightbeadem
JD (8b4fa9) — 4/14/2012 @ 1:35 pmMore than one, just never made a go of it. He met Michelle when he was a summer associate, and she was an associate. They didn’t keep him. No shame in that, they didn’t keep half of us, either. I found another place to pay the bills with, hung up my shingle when I got sworn in.
nk (52d02a) — 4/14/2012 @ 2:11 pmI had a liberal woman, for more than twenty years, who works 12 hours a day doing medicine and another 6 taking care of our daughter.
If Megan Kelly’s panel said that about Ann Romney, I don’t consider them women at all. Freaks, with female characteristics.
nk (52d02a) — 4/14/2012 @ 2:23 pmJD,
I don’t know who “Teh Obe” is, but I probably ought to have been more narrow in my parameters knowing that an old fart like you would jump on it….
Obama never worked as an entrepreneur, so doesn’t that inherently disqualify him from commenting on entrepreneurship ?
Elephant Stone (0ae97d) — 4/14/2012 @ 2:36 pmSomeone above said they had never met anyone who wouldn’t vote for Obama because they didn’t like his wife.. Well you just met one here. Do your research, she is almost more of a thug [via the Chicago Machine] than he is. I frankly believe she is most responsible for turning him into a race baiter, since Race has been her agenda since college. Read the latest book out there, written by an O sympathizer, your jaw will land in your lap, on her hubris, entitlement, and general nastiness. He is so beaten up by her, he will never ‘ask’ her to do anything, his staff talks to her staff.The reader comes away thinking that the Universe must have something backwards, to have either of these clowns in the WH.She has more ideas about policy [all bad,all giveaways] than he does. He may be clueless,and a supporter of all the wrong causes, but she is downright scary.
della street (1bd52d) — 4/15/2012 @ 4:12 pmSorry, the book’s title escapes me, I got it from my local library. It was in the news briefly, a couple of months ago, the author is probably having a nice ‘rest’ in Slovakia, as I write this.
Sorry, brain freeze..The book is ‘The Obamas’ by Jodi Cantor or Kantor..who works for the NYtimes, and tried to write a flattering book, but must have a few shreds of honesty left, which is unusual, considering her employer.
della street (1bd52d) — 4/15/2012 @ 4:25 pmIt wasn’t that accusatory, Della in fact Jodi who uncovered the much more significant law school syllabi, that Breitbart brought to greater light,
narciso (8d0f34) — 4/15/2012 @ 4:30 pmactually makes too many allowances for her, her
shopping sprees in Marbella, for instance, are compared to the one time provisioning that the party did for Sarah, that Lise Klein testified
she was opposed to in the times, yet Game Change
passed off as gospel.