I listened to the whole clip, and yeah, it was a dumb, insulting thing for Hilary Rosen to say about stay-at-home-moms; but it’s pretty obvious that she was class-baiting, not SAHM-baiting. I’m quite sure it’s true that a wealthy SAHM lives a different life from a SAHM who’s made some financial sacrifices to be at home. Still, if Ann Romney is going around TALKING TO WOMEN, clearly she’s trying to learn and be less out of touch.
Anyway, the thing that bothers me the most about this is that women who have a lot in common are getting snippy with each other. LET’S NOT LET THEM DO THIS TO US AGAIN. If you’re a SAHM who is mad at Rosen, there is no need to make generalizations about women who work; and if you’re a working mom, there is no need to make assumptions about women who don’t. If there’s one thing motherhood teaches us, it’s that motherhood is a learning game.
I have to sit down 
Yes….but raising FIVE BOYS in Massachusetts in a world of privelege to be fine, upstanding young men in their own right who are respectful of the own families and their parents and who contribute to society and are not publicly humiliating themselves is a monumental acheivement. People can “suffer” from privelege just as they can from privation. Look at poor Meg Whitman’s sons.
You’re absolutely right, Mary. All in all, I think I’d rather struggle with poverty than struggle with wealth, especially where raising children is concerned. However, Rosen was talking about how personal experience will affect public policy, not how wealth or poverty affects one’s own family.
I think Rosen was just trying to incite more class envy and division. She wouldn’t give a rat’s patootee about what Mrs. Romney knows or doesn’t know about the economy. Just a political, calculated tactic. That is is.
Agreed. Which is revoltingly disingenuous, considering that the Romneys give more than 10% to charity, and the Obamas give almost nothing. Did you hear Obama talking about how Michelle “didn’t have the luxury” to stay at home, because they couldn’t hobble by on a mere $180,000 (or whatever it was) that he brought home? Here’s what I think: if Michelle had reasons to work , then she had reasons to work, and she doesn’t owe ME an explanation. But trying to paint the Romneys as swanky robber barons, and the Obamas as typical middle class parents who stay up at night wondering if they can afford swim passes for the kiddies this year – – feh. These people stoop so low.
Actually, the Obama’s are generous. I’m not a fan of our president, per se, but I wanted to offer a correction on numbers.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/13/president-obama-paid-lower-tax-rate-than-his-secretary/
Ooh, good catch! Sorry about that — I should have checked before I made that claim. Well, good for them!
And, Simcha, a friend of mine checked to see where their money went and I have to say I was relieved that none of it went to Planned Parenthood.
Yeah, I think the money flows in the other direction, in that particular relationship.
99% of the time I disagree with you politically. But I’m really, really glad that you, like many other smart women I know, saw through that nonsense. The comments were stupid, and had nothing to do with what Ms. Romney chose to do for a living. Now it’s turned into another way for both sides to try to divide the country against each other – and, as Karianna at Caffeinated Catholic Mama said, “What are we being distracted from while we bicker over this?”
I’m so disillusioned with politics in general. Obama has disappointed me and lost my support, but I cannot stand Romney, either. On the suggestion of an agnostic, RINO friend, I’ll probably vote for Jed Bartlett for president. Because a fictional character is better than either of the choices I’m faced with.
Simcha, you say not to make generalizations but you just an unfair and untrue judgment about Mrs. Romney by saying she was out of touch. How do you know she’s out of touch? We see very little of her and what we do see is filtered by the media. Just because you have money doesn’t make you out of touch. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Also, I do think Rosen really believes Ann Romney and all SAHMs don’t do real work. This is still a strong current of thought among liberals even if they know enough not to voice it. However, just reading comments on some of the news websites about this story, about 90% of the comments agreed with Rosen that being a stay at home mom isn’t as hard work as being in a paying job. This faction also thinks that being a SAHM doesn’t know anything about economics or budgeting even though most SAHM’s do most of the purchasing and paying bills in the family. It is so sad that this bigotry still exists. And yes, I homeschool and WORK at home.
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