Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thinking about

1. this:


I will not tell families that have children with disabilities that they have to fend for themselves.

Barack Obama
March 13, 2011

because it's about time and because it renews my hope that Obama and our country will do the right thing and because I was losing hope if not completely than nearly completely, particularly in regard to Obama. And I'm perfectly aware that this is entirely dependent on endless negotiations that will perhaps be fruitless, but I'm hoping it's not all talk --

2. and this:

the person on my Facebook page who brought up the birther -- what do I call it? -- shitstorm as a response to the above quote that I'd posted, stating that Obama has spent millions of dollars on lawyers to hide his birth certificate instead of giving it to organizations that help children with disabilities. I'm not going to think about it for too long, except in the context of how insensitive and ignorant the comment was and how it underlies a greater ignorance in our country and perhaps our world and how grateful I am to have the opportunity, the education, the smarts and the sensitivity to dispel ignorance about disability in general.

2. and this:

If you ban it, they will read it. That seems to be true thus far in the case of Sr. Elizabeth Johnson’s 2007 book Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God, which the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops suggested should be banned from Catholic schools in a statement on March 24.

Read more HERE.


3. and the blog NERD BOYFRIEND because it's not all about strife and conflict

at

10 comments:

  1. Julia O'CApril 14, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    Regarding #2...I hope that afterward, you did some un-friending (which is not a word, but should be).

    and #3..now *I* want to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ms. MoonApril 14, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    I want to believe in Obama so much it makes my heart hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tulpenApril 14, 2011 at 4:47 PM

    I skipped over the political stuff and went right to the Nerd Boyfriend goodness. That site is some adorkable fun.

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  4. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 5:30 PM

    Perhaps I'm not so bright but how will Obama's birth certificate help children with disabilities?

    ReplyDelete
  5. SECRET PEPPER PERSON:April 14, 2011 at 5:40 PM

    So Obama. He is not a savior or our davior. I felt sorry for him when he won the election as I knew he would fall from grace eventually in the fickle public's eye. Didn't take long. You can't make cake out of crap and the man had few ingredients to work with coming in. It's not a party issue. It's a heart of man issue. I am not a fearful person but I struggle with fear in the department of what the future holds for my children with disabilities. The vulnerable population that can't take care of themselves. Scott singed his death warrant bill on March 31,2011 and already we are feeling the dreadful consequences in Florida. It's not taking them as long as usual to implement the cutbacks. They are seriously attacking the disabled.

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  6. AnonymousApril 14, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    Ack. A troll on your facebook page? So not cool.

    Also in love with nerd boyfriend.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. A.SmithApril 14, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    Who was the ignorant person who originally said that ignorance is a blessing? Who are these "birthers"? As an American it is incredibly embarrassing to try to explain who these people are, and what they believe in, to those who cannot understand how they can be so dense and as an English friend said: "they sure give a different meaning to the expression "bloke".

    I do feel truly sad when I hear anything concerning the birthers and their level of ignorance and arrogance in their attitude about "do not confuse me with the facts". But that is what happens when education falls at the bottom of the pile in a society whose only source of information appears to be "Faux" news.

    I am glad your hopes are restored. Me, being much older and cynical
    would like to wait before giving any more passes. Once Guantanamo is closed, once we get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and restore what was stolen in dignity and honor from our Country by the previous
    administration by making those responsible for war crimes pay for them, once we really commit ourselves to make the environment a priority and refuse to ignore the lesson from Chernobyl and Fukushima then perhaps I will try to believe we are still capable of doing the right thing.

    Sorry, my heart speaks for me in a language that sometimes sounds
    harsh and judgmental but it is unfortunately the experience of having had my trust destroyed more than once from the mundane betrayals to the really important ones.

    However, I am truly happy for you.

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  8. ElizabethApril 14, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    Julia -- You only know the half of it! :(

    Ms. Moon -- Me too, that's why we are the way we are, I guess.

    tulpen -- I can't resist politics and religion!

    Lilith -- The person on FB made a flippant remark about Obama spending a whole lot of money defending himself from birthers instead of donating it to children with disabilities. It's not worth going into --

    Secret Pepper -- "Heart of man" or "heart of darkness" issue?

    formerlyonlyamovie -- Not a troll, just a dumb argument with someone I barely know

    Allegra -- wise words as always, and I agree with nearly all of them --

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  9. LeslieApril 15, 2011 at 6:29 AM

    i hope it's not all talk. it so often is...

    (and paul newman was so gorgeous - what a fun blog nerd boyfriend is)

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownApril 15, 2011 at 3:18 PM

    I don't think we'd be going through this birther BS if McCain were the president - even though he was born in Panama.

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