My take on Rev.Wright-
His demeanor yesterday seemed full of ego and narcissism,anger and an element of bigotry. I think Wright is angry that Obama distanced himself from his inflammatory rhetoric and his ego can't let him let it go long enough for Obama to recover from the initial damage. I think part of what Wright did was intentionally designed to hurt Obama because of his "betrayal". His desire to elevate the status of African Americans isn't as strong as his need to defend himself. He'd rather throw Obama "under the bus" then to keep quiet and help Obama win. (Mika was right on Morning Joe when she said he seemed to relish the attention on himself.)
I listened to his entire speech yesterday and found the content to be interesting and mostly valid. He's a very good speaker. But I've been in enough black churches to know that while Wright's style is typical, his message is not. I have absolutely no doubt that this will do lasting and even permanent (hopefully not fatal) damage to Obama's campaign.
Wright's words painted Obama as the type of politician he's trying not to be when he said that Obama had reacted as he did because that's the way politicians act. He didn't refer to Obama as a friend but nothing more than an opportunist. He said he'd "go after Obama" if he wins the Presidency because he'd then be part of the group that keeps black people down.
Clinton and McCain will use every bit of this to paint Obama into a corner and force him to continue to defend Wright, keeping him off his message of hope and unity. He'll be damaged in the eyes of people who were undecided or even hesitant to vote for an African American.
I've wavered on how I feel about Rev.Wright and had gotten to the point where I thought I could understand why he preached his message. Something in my gut, that I ignored, was telling me that Wright was the type of preacher whose sermons were often more about getting attention than in saving souls, I think now that I should have followed my first instinct.
I don't for one minute hold Obama responsible for this, with the exception that he denied ever hearing Wright's anti-American and outrageous sermons. All of Chicago knew Wright for what he was. You can't be in a church for 20 years with a pastor well known for his controversial Afro-centric views and not know what his sermons contain. I 'm not saying Obama agreed with what Wright said, nor am I suggesting that he should have left the church. I am saying that Obama should have been truthful in his response when asked about his pastor and he could have reduced this damage. Now he's caught up in the spin that he can't get away from.
Some pretty wild weather here the past week or so. Spring arrived with a fury - after a couple of gorgeous 70 degree days,the rains came and we had almost 5inches. Downtown Manchester flooded and a few streets were closed. My neighborhood has had to deal with water seepage into basements and the sump pumps can't keep up. We use the shop vac every night and probably will have to continue for the rest of the week.
On theup side - my plants are coming up!!!
Last night we had one of those rain storms that start suddenly, where in the span of a few minutes it goes from no precipitation to a downpour. It occurred right about the time we were putting Milo to bed, and he was fussing in his crib because he didn't want to be going to bed ... well, as soon as that rain started pouring, Milo's whole demeanor changed -- he sighed, settled himself, and turned onto his side and promptly fell asleep. It was amazing -- that he would find the sound of the rain so comforting. Unless it was a total coincidence, of course.
We'll have to try one of those sound machines that plays different nature sounds, to see whether it will help him settle at night. We've been playing music for him at bedtime, but this might be worth experimenting with. :-)
Last night we had one of those rain storms that start suddenly, where in the span of a few minutes it goes from no precipitation to a downpour. It occurred right about the time we were putting Milo to bed, and he was fussing in his crib because he didn't want to be going to bed ... well, as soon as that rain started pouring, Milo's whole demeanor changed -- he sighed, settled himself, and turned onto his side and promptly fell asleep. It was amazing -- that he would find the sound of the rain so comforting. Unless it was a total coincidence, of course.
We'll have to try one of those sound machines that plays different nature sounds, to see if it will help him settle at night. We've been playing music for him at bedtime, but this might be worth experimenting with. :-)
Today Milo has big news to share ... his first tooth is cutting through the gums. Yay!
We've suspected teething for a while, and he's been drooling, and making funny sucking faces and twisting his tongue around, and his gums have looked a little swollen -- Well, today, we see signs of a first tooth cutting through on the bottom. A very exciting day in our household. (Seriously: Jonah called me at work this afternoon to share the news. It was that exciting for us.)
Even with this new development, the little guy was sweet and happy all day (no crank). We'll see if and when he gets fussy about this ... I'm sure it will become uncomfortable. For now, so far so good. Hooray for you, Milo.
I've been gone for awhile, severely neglecting my blog. I do that sometimes, just check out and disappear. I get depressed when I'm stressed and in emotional overload. I think I'm emerging from that, but who knows for sure.
I'm still working for the Obama Iowa campaign, although things have slowed down. We had our County Convention a few weeks ago and did really well. We ended up with 7 delegates to send to the District and State Conventions. Iowa's final tally of national delegates will be decided at that point. I'm looking forward to the conventions, sort of as a way to have seen this campaign to through from beginning to end. It's been an interesting journey and I've learned a lot about the political process. I was also elected to a 2 year term as Secretary of our County Democratic Central Committee. Ah, the life of a politics junkie!
My son has been very ill for the past couple of months. His bipolar disorder has developed some psychotic overtones, both visual and delusional and this has caused his anxiety and panic attacks to escalate. We had to have him hospitalized for 11 days, which was really hard on us all, and he came home on Monday. Things weren't much better.
Fortunately, his case worker was able to find a small apartment designed for mentally ill adults where he can live and get some help.He's independent in that he can come and go as he pleases, bu he's required to follow a treatment plan that includes learning independent living skills and learning how to live with a chronic mental illness.
Another major stressor has been helping my mother deal with my father's recently diagnosed Alzheimer's diagnoses. We're separated by 1000 miles but there isn't any other family to help out. I do what I can, such as researching support groups and preparing the various powers of attorneys. l know I'll eventually have to fly back to Virginia to tackle the hard stuff when Mom can't handle things on her own any longer. I have a feeling I'll be there in the summer.
Now my focus has to be on finding a job, since I've been unemployed since the beginning of October. That's where living in a rural location is a disadvantage. Unless I want to work on a farm, in a manufacturer plant or as a housekeeper at the nursing home, I'm out of luck. Office jobs that I'm qualified for (manager, admin. assistant and the like) are non-existent. The ones that exist are taken by women who'll retire from them. No one leaves! I'm trying to think of something I can do from home.
And winter just may be over, but I may have jinxed it by saying that! I can finally see my wet, soggy lawn and a few plants are coming up. My vegetable garden is planned and should be able to plant by the end of May. I'm going to attempt a technique called "square foot gardening" which is supposed to increase the yield in a much smaller area. I'll probably end up selling my bounty at the local farmer's market...but this unemployed person could use the income.
Depressing things to write about, but isn't what life is like? I'm a natural pessimist anyway and I like Ben Franklin's outlook. To paraphrase. I'm a pessimist so that when things go good, I'm pleasantly surprised.
Katie at the Waverly Horse Auction
My cat friends, Chloe and Willie
Snow - I won't miss this!
This is what it took to get rid of the 8" of ice in our driveway.
And what I'm looking forward to....
Milo learned a new sound on Friday ... it goes like this: buh buh buh. Or sometimes, bah bah bah. He spent the whole weekend making these great little B sounds, and it continues today as well. We love it. It cracks me up, actually. He's very determined and focused as he goes buh buh buh buh.
Other news from the past week: On Tuesday night, Milo met his first bona fide politician. She held him for a while, actually. :-) ...Jonah went to a volunteers/organizational meeting for the Congressional campaign for a past mayor of Frederick, and he took Milo along. Jennifer (the past mayor in question) picked up Milo and walked around the room with him a little bit, getting him to laugh and smile some (not so hard to do with this kid; he'd be a politician's dream baby to meet at a campaign stop).
A few months ago we had been joking about the upcoming Maryland primary election (it was early February), and Jonah said that if any of the presidential candidates -- at that point in time they were greater in number than now -- did a campaign event close to Frederick, he would bundle Milo up and go see the stump speech or whatever. But it didn't work out, and Milo didn't meet any national-scale politicians (which, really, wouldn't have impressed him anyway). You think about things you want your child to do and opportunities you want him to have, and you probably don't think about something like meeting a future president of the United States. But it would be pretty cool to do, wouldn't it?
