March 12, 2008

Voila, A New American Dream

Eight years ago, if you had asked me why I love politics, I would have replied with many wonderful reasons.

I would have told you that if you never vote, you have no right to complain about the state of our country’s government. I would have said that we are responsible for changing the things we dislike about government. I would have encouraged you to vote and help others get out and vote. I may have even talked about the American Dream, and the dreams my great-grandparents brought with them on their way to Ellis Island from the war-torn country of Poland.

Ask me the same question today and the answer would be completely different. As time has gone by, I’ve loved politics less and less. I’ve become cynical about our government, the politicians who claim to serve “We the people”, and the motives of the Democrat and Republican parties. I don’t know if I believe in “the American Dream” anymore.

As a lifelong Republican, I have looked at this country through a different lens than most others, and over the years I’ve become disheartened with every broken promise, every scandal, every downright lie that has been told to the American people. I can’t entirely blame George W. Bush, for he has Congress and advisers pushing and pulling him in various directions, but I do believe that his priorities have been mixed up.

When the United States first entered this war in Iraq, I was upset. My reasons were selfish. I didn’t want my brother and sister, members of the National Guard, to be sent to the Middle East. I didn’t want them, or anyone else, to risk their lives for what I believed was an impossible cause.

Yet, I was angry that terrorists claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people on September 11th. As a Catholic, it pains me to confess that I believed that Osama bin Laden needed to punished, killed even.

And so, I looked away. We sent thousands of troops overseas, far away from their families, and I convinced myself that we were on the right path, that soon this war would be over. It was so naive to think that way.

As I watched the news, day after day, seeing reports of more innocent military men and women dying in a useless war, I became sad. I felt remorse. I felt ashamed. Even though I was so honored by and proud of our troops, the ones who have acted selflessly for this country, I was sickened for even thinking we were doing the right thing.

I watched as this war went from being “The Avenging of 9/11″ to “The Obsessive Hunt for Saddam Hussein”, and no longer about ending terrorism. I began to wonder what the hell our troops were doing there in the first place. I felt lied to; by President Bush and every member of Congress that voted in favor of sending our troops to Iraq.

Inevitably, my brother Nathan was deployed to Kuwait for 17 months. Even though he wasn’t on the front lines, I worried about his safety every single day. When he finally returned home, he was no longer my little brother.

He was a man. He grew up. He became hardened by the things he experienced.

He was a man who served for… I don’t know what. Our country? Our government? Me? You? Iraqi freedom? Honestly, what are the troops fighting for?

When my son grows up, will he ever be in a war? I pray to God the answer is no. But how do I know? There’s no way to answer that question.

As a mother, I look at my son and I think about the world he has to grow up in. A world filled with tragedy, violence, poverty. A world of uncertainty. What does the future hold for my children? Will my son have his own American Dream?

With the 2008 Election progressing every day, I’ve been immersed in the issues of foreign policy, the War, the economy, health care, immigration, abortion, education, poverty, the environment, maternal rights, domestic violence, and more. My list is endless. And each time I think about it, I think of the future and what problems my children will inherit.

Will troops still be stationed in Iraq twenty, thirty, or fifty years from now? John McCain admits this is a possibility, almost a certainty. He’s prepared for 100 years in the Middle East.

Will women finally be paid fairly and equally for doing the same jobs as men? Hillary Clinton assures us she will fight for this important issue.

Will our country find hope and inspiration, and trust in the government again? Barack Obama pledges to bring Americans together for the greater good.

Will Americans finally receive the health care benefits they so desperately need? Will all human life be respected and protected, even the unborn? Can Democrats and Republicans work together to make the government work for everyone?

In spite of all the unanswered questions and uncertainties, I believe it’s imperative that we work together. We must stay abreast of political issues, and come together to turn this country around. This is the most important issue.

Together, we can make America the great country that it once was, a country we are proud to live and work in. This is my new American Dream, and it’s the reason I’ve fallen in love with politics again. What is your American Dream?

———-

Dana Tuszke, traditional conservative Republican, spends her mornings catering to a 3-year-old and her evenings navigating through political headlines. She recently crossed party lines in the Wisconsin Primary when she voted for Barack Obama, and the anticipation as to which candidate will be the Democratic presidential nominee is killing her. She writes about life and motherhood at The Dana Files, and dishes politics from The Right at BlogHer.

March 8, 2008

Sweet Cherry Wine

I must have been a hippie in a previous life. The song Sweet Cherry Wine by Tommy James and the Shondells is one of my favorites, and I’ve got an old 45 record of it on my jukebox (for real, I have a jukebox in my dining room).

When listening to the song today, I started to realize the lyrics are almost timeless.

Sweet Cherry Wine

Come on, everyone we gotta get together now
Oh yeah, love’s the only thing that matters anyhow
And the beauty of life can only survive
If we love one another

Oh yeah, yesterday my friends were marching out to war
Oh yeah, listen now we ain’t a marching anymore
No we ain’t gonna fight
Only God has the right
To decide who’s to live and die

He gave us sweet cherry wine
so very fine
Drink it right down, pass it all around
So stimulating, so intoxicating
Sweet cherry wine
To open your mind
And everybody’s gonna feel so fine
Drinking sweet cherry wine
Yes they will

Watch the mountain turn
To dust and glow away
Oh Lord, you know there’s got to be a better way
And the old masquerade is a no soul parade
Marchin’ through the ruins of time
To save us He gave us sweet cherry wine

Sweet cherry wine, so very fine
Drink it right down
Pass it all around
So stimulating, so intoxicating
Sweet cherry wine
Drink it with your brother
Trust in one another, yeah, yeah

He gave us sweet cherry wine
Sweet cherry wine
Drink it right down
Pass it all around
People don’t you know the cup is running over

Or maybe, I’m just a Catholic hippie.  Tommy James wrote this song to express is Christian beliefs, as the “sweet cherry wine” represents the blood of Jesus Christ. This song was also released during the height of pychedelia, so that could explain the ‘brotherly love” feeling of the song. Sweet Cherry Wine is also the closest that James ever got to a protest recording (of the Vietnam war).

The song could definitely fit the Iraq war, I think.

March 2, 2008

Gender Talk

When I decided to get a family membership to the local YMCA, I had big dreams of all the various activities we would participate in. I enrolled in yoga, pilates and butts ‘n guts, and I decided to let Dawson join gymnastics.

My reasoning was that it would help him learn to follow directions, get along with others, and burn off some of his endless energy. Since I’ve been home I’ve become his personal jungle gym (I have bruises to prove it!) and it was time to let him jump on trampolines and springboards under the supervision of young, agile, high school gymnasts. How could it go wrong?

When I mentioned Dawson’s enrollement to a few people, I got a funny look, as if to say, “But Dawson is a boy…and gymnastics is for girls…”

I know that typically more girls are enrolled in gymnastics classes than boys. Even I dabbled in the sport as a young kid (and broke my arm trying to imitate the moves of Mary Lou Retton on the pommel horse, during the 1984 Olympics.)

I can name only two male gymnasts. Bart Connor was the 1979 World Champion on the parallel bars and a member of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. Peter Vidmar, capatain of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team during the same 1984 Olympics, led the team to it’s first ever gold medal. But we rarely think of these men when we think of gymnastics, perhaps because the sport is heavily saturated with women.

I’m not saying that Dawson will grow up to be an Olympic medalist, and I’m certainly not saying he couldn’t, either. I don’t think I want him to become the next Bart Connor anyway. The amount of training and discipline involved in the sport is time consuming and only the most hard driven gymnasts actually make their names known. The extra toll on a young gymnast’s body can be devastating. It’s not my place to push Dawson into something he may not even want to do.

But since when is it okay to assume that because Dawson is a boy that he shouldn’t participate, or even want to participate, in the sport?

When Dawson was just an infant I tried to surround him with gender neutral toys. I didn’t want to expose him to anything overly boyish or overly girlish. The stereotype that boys wore blue, played with monster trucks, and loved football annoyed me, and my husband freaked out when I brought home a pink Little People mini-van because he thought it was “for girls”. I didn’t understand why everything had to be so black and white, or pink and blue, rather.

Gender is so potent that we project it onto both science and religion. Aside from the obvious anatomical difference between a male and a female, are we really that different? We’ve all heard that girls are emotional and boys are tough, but is that a biological trait or something we acquire because of how we are raised? Nature vs. Nurture?

Why are we defined by our gender? Why does society insist on imposing specific gender stereotypes upon men and women and boys and girls?

As a woman, I face gender stereotypes almost daily. I’m reminded that women can’t be priests every time I attend Mass. Every time I read the newspaper or watch the news, I’m reminded that a woman has yet to be president, and that any woman who runs for political office has to fight tooth and nail against a man. When I make a doctor or dentist appointment, I’m reminded that most of the nurses and hygienists are female (and the physicians are male).

It’s frustrating to realize that society still treats women as second class citizens. I’m not trying to start a gender war by saying that women are better than men — I think it depends on the circumstances. But if a highly qualified woman and a somewhat qualified man are vying for the same job, shouldn’t the one with more experience get the position?

Take for example, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom are running for president of the United States. Hillary has more political experience than Barack. Realistically, Hillary should become the next president, right?

I voted for Barack Obama for several reasons (and you can read all about that here), but as time has gone by I’ve wondered if my own subconscious gender stereotype has gotten in the way of choosing the right candidate for president. The feminist within me wanted to vote Clinton, but only for what I thought was the wrong reason; because she is a woman.

I never thought that gender stereotypes would affect me in this way. It wasn’t until my son was stereotyped that I realized that our society still uses gender to “keep us in our places”. It’s an outdated way of thinking and it needs to change. But how do we do this? Where do we begin?

February 20, 2008

Not So Happy Cows in California

As a Wisconsin native, I grew up near a lot of dairy farms. My grandparents were dairy farmers for over 40 years and after they passed away my uncles continued farming. I remember visiting the farm every weekend as a kid, and I’ve experienced cow milking, hay baling and other farm chores. My uncles treated their cows well, these animals were their livelihood.

In elementary school we had something called Wisconsin Week in which we learned about all the wonderful things our state had to offer. One of the most important lessons was about our agriculture, and we were so proud to be America’s Dairyland. Over the years, California caught up to us in milk production and Wisconsin focused more of it’s time on cheese production. This is probably why we’re considered Cheeseheads — well, that and our large Green Bay Packer fan base.

You will probably understand why I was so angry when I started seeing the television commercials for “Real California Cheese”. I know the Golden State has an advantage with beautiful weather in the winter months. I’m sure our Holsteins hate the snow as much as we do. It wasn’t enough that California was surpassing us in producing milk, now they wanted to compete with our cheese?

I don’t think I can really blame the state of California. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board didn’t appear to be doing anything to counter the bold claims that “happy cows come from California.”

I was shocked and appalled when I read this article in the Washington Post about the inhumane treatment of cows captured on hidden video. At a slaughterhouse in Chino, CA, employees were caught “using chains to drag cows unable to stand; shoving and rolling crippled cows with forklifts; and rampant use of electric prods to drive infirm animals to slaughter.”

I’ve never witnessed an animal being slaughtered. I can’t imagine how awful it must be. However, I never expected to discover that a meat packing company would use such horrendous methods to bring beef products to America’s dinner tables.

It disturbs me that the Hallmark Meat Packing company would commit such gruesome mistreatment. I don’t believe cows deserve to be prodded with a fork lift. I realize these cows were going to be slaughtered and there is no humane way to end an animal’s life, but it does NOT include chains or cattle prods.

(As an aside, I am not writing this to spark a debate between meat eating and vegetarianism. I understand it is a personal choice for everyone.)