MinuteMom November 2011• Volume 1 Issue 3
The countDown Begins
Websites to Help you
The most powerful office Personal Responsibility
YYPresident’s Letter Welcome November’s Minute Mom Magazine has a strong theme of vetting and educating yourself about every candidate’s background and voting record. Many resources are available. There are also articles on the financial instabilities and frustrations being exhibited by civil unrest happening throughout the nation. No one is exempt. Our future is rapidly being changed, will your vote be one to influence the reversal of these adversities? Each child of the United States, whether it be your child or the child of others, was born into this free nation. Their freedom is being threatened and these threats are coming on all fronts. Attacks on the family, education, morals and presently by those elected officials, whom seek to do good for the people. The Constitution of the United States was founded to ensure our freedoms and futures. As moms and moms at heart, we have the personal responsibility to be actively involved in the election process. You may think, I’m just one vote, what difference can I make? You must make a difference. Educate yourself on each local and national candidate. Share that knowledge to peacefully engage and inform your circle of influence. Vote the leaders who have failed to uphold and defend the Constitution OUT! Do not give up your freedom to vote. It has been fought for. Do not waste it. When a candidate is given the nomination, please consider if you would prefer another four years of the current administration and if the nominated candidate has a solid plan to solve our nation’s crisis. Your vote can be heard in unison of One Voice. They will hear our Voice and know that
Amber
PS. We would like to thank Regina Steiger for all she has done as editor and Director of Public Relations for As a Mom... She is moving on to the world of video. We wish her all the best! Also best wishes to Patsy Conreaux who is now a regional coordinator for groups and has stepped down to better fulfill that role.! Thaak you so much for all you do!
Amber Toone enjoing a day away from the computer. 2
MinuteMom Magazine
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Photo amber toone
we have had enough! Hope you enjoy this month’s magazine! Amber Toone National Vice - President As a Mom… A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots® Inc.
MinuteMom Magazine November 2011• Volume 1 Issue 3
8 Features 8 Facebook and 4 hours:
How one mom used little things to make a big difference.
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10 The Most Powerful Office In The World Is NOT The President of the United States! By Phyllis Schlafly, eAGLE fORUM
14 Countdown to 2012 Sites that can Help you: GradeGov.com Project GoPink
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Family Security Matters icaucus Project Vote Smart Abigail Adams project The Kitchen Cabinet
Electorate Education
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American majority
28 Why “Occupy Wall Street” Matters
What began with dozens of ne’er-do-wells on Constitution Day is now a multi-continent event. By Philip Johnson
As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
November 2011
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2011 Fundraising Campaign All We Have Left is Change. For almost 2 years our all-volunteer board and team have been working with members “to empower Moms and Moms- at-Heart in preserving our Constitution, country and children’s future”. We would like to continue to expand the message and support Moms everywhere. But we need more than kind hearts to do so. The change you find this week can help fulfill our budget needs . Look around… under couch cushions, in the dryer, under the dresser… Lori’s kids would like to point out that children’s piggy banks are off limits… and donate your extra change! * Our budget has been very carefully thought out, and we have made every effort to economize where we can. These funds will cover needs such as software, bookkeeping services, state group and travel needs. There are also ongoing fees for the web domains, mail box and legal services. Your donations are very much appreciated, however they are not tax deductible.
Departments 2 President’s Letter Welcome
7 Letters to the Editor 26 Founding Mothers Founder’s Wives: Elizabeth Checkley Adams & Elizabeth Wells Adams
32 Children Taste of the “Real” World
33 Values God, Family & Country... our Personal Responsibility!
34 Country The Remnant Just the Lives of Ordinary People
38 As Seen on AAM Taking away parental rights state by state (HPV vaccines, the sexing up of our kids... What is your state up to and how does it affect your kids??? More Hot Topics ...
40 In the Spotlight 42 Poem 43
Be Involved Have A Local Meet-UP!!
44 Sisterhood Moms meet in Boston
46 As A Family
MinuteMom Magazine is looking for people to share their talents by producing articles, essays, opinion pieces and original poetry. Artists share your original artwork. Send us photos showing your adventures As a Mom... For more information contact editor@minutemom.org. As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
Publisher: As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots.® Inc. www.AsAMom.org Editor Regina Steiger Assistant Editor Patsy Conreaux Contributing Writers: Sonja Eddings Brown Carrie Christiansen. Gisela Dieter Stephanie Jahn Philip Johnson Adelaide Elm Kimball Deborah Ringhaver Lane Elizabeth Langford Elizabeth B. Letchworth MamaCapps , Marlene Peterson Denise H. Pursche , Ned Ryun Phyllis Schlafly Noelle Steiger ,Carol A. Taber Suzanne Haik Terrell Kami Watkins Denise H. Pursche Erin Williams MinuteMom Magazine is published 12 times a year by As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots, Inc. MinuteMom Magazine is available free, on-line. Copyright © 2011 by As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots, Inc. All rights reserved. MinuteMom Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or contest fulfillment from third parties. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorial material. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume the responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the advertisement. Editorial contributors assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on published work. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the official organization policy. As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots® is a registered trademark. Please send all article submissions to: editor@minutemom.org Advertising inquiries contact: sponsor@asamom.org Note that submissions are welcome but are not guaranteed inclusion in the magazine. November 2011
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11.11.11 Join us in an As a Mom... Site-wide Event Honoring the Veterans on 11.11.11 Find discussions on each State page and contribute to the discussions. Honor our vets past and present. Share the stories and pictures of Dads, Granddads, Husbands, Sons, Wives, Daughters and friends who are veterans past and present. On 11.11.11 these discussions will be featured on Asamom.org. Look for them and honor the Veterans in our lives!
YYLetters to the Editor Blown Away Had to write and tell you, I was completely blown away by our MinuteMoms’ Magazine. This is no hyperbole. The articles’ range was stellar. From amazingly caring, and poignant, to practical and informative... not to mention the mag’s lay-out, pictures, and design. Don’t know why I expected less? I can only suppose, our Moms never truly get, all the credit they deserve! And kudos go to all the men who support this effort, as well! Sincerely Elinor Dandrea, NY Strongest Force Since this President has come into office three years ago, our schools are not allowed to mention GOD. Since this President has come into office three years ago, our children and grandchildren have seen their parents out of work, and out of their homes. Many of our children and grandchildren do not have the opportunity to go on to college for their parents now cannot afford to send them. Our savings are used to live through everyday survival. Rights, future hope for a better life are taken away from these children. America has always been proud of who we are, and our children and grandchildren are now taught in school that we are a nation of terrorists that should apologize for who we are. The strongest force in America is MOM. And we must stand up for our children and give them the country back that we grew up in. We will stand against Obama and stand proud and fierce for our nation and our children. God Bless America. God Bless all Moms and the children. Happy33399
Time to Shed My Shame “As a Mom” has been a crutch for me for the last two years. I became a member of the Florida and national group because it offered me silent companionship, knowledge, an education, action, and a sense of belonging. I fit the bill. I am a Mom of nine, a grandmother of nine, a God-loving Christian, and a believer in the 9-12 Principles and Values we promise to follow. I am also the mother of an inmate serving a life sentence. There, I’ve said it out loud! I don’t want to be alone with this. Are there other Moms out there feeling the shame, the guilt, the anxiety that I feel? There was an article on the Drudge Report, [dated September 19, 2011], that caught my attention. After reading and re-reading the article, I panicked. My world suddenly became a very stressful place. The article, written by Matt Kennard in New York, was titled, “US States Seek to Privatize Prisons”. This is a death sentence to those inmates seeking relief through clemency and pardons. Why do I care about such a problem? My son’s only hope is clemency. Before passing judgment on him, please know he has never been a violent person, never used a weapon, and never hurt another human being. It would take a series of letters to the editor to tell Robert’s complete story, but know this: he was a crack head and was doing drugs from the early age of thirteen. After a night of doing more than $500 [worth] of crack, he hailed a cab to take him home. He was “coming down” from the high and needed another hit. When the cab reached its destination, Robert told the driver to, “Get out of the f----- cab and give me your money!” There was no knife, no gun, no big stick, just vulgarity and anger. He was caught, tried, found guilty and sentenced to life.
The judge at Robert’s sentencing read into the Court record, “I do not believe you deserve a life sentence, but the Legislature has passed rules which I am obliged to follow.” The cab driver has written to the Governor and the Clemency Board that he does not feel Robert deserves this punishment. He forgives him and hopes the state will release him. Private prisons will have more incentive to keep their cells filled and their stockholders happy by getting and keeping every single body they can. Unfortunately many lives will be adversely impacted. The sad part is that most citizens haven’t a clue of what this could mean for people who are already incarcerated. Most “businesses” don’t turn you out the door as long as they are making money on you. Can you imagine how a staff member of one of the private businesses is going to advocate for a prisoner to be released through parole or clemency? It just won’t happen… their jobs will be dependent on numbers, on the bottom line. If folks want to know what hell looks like, look at such mean-spirited policies that allow for such a thing as a privatized prison. I have no compassion for this mentality. It’s simply too destructive to the human spirit. I ask our readers to first show some compassion before judging; and secondly, please consider reading about and maybe becoming a member of FAMM… Families Against Mandatory Minimums. This too is a great organization. They are the last line of defense for those given an unjust sentence. Thank you for listening, Barbara (Simboli) Florida Mom
acebook and 4 hours: H O M U L T T M AB D ow
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By Lori parker, AAM
Kelli Boren
• Mom • facebooker • Making a Difference
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In a word, Kelli Boren is just like any other mom – busy. As a wife of nineteen years and mother of seven, her days are full. In the mornings she teaches preschool and many afternoons she can be found teaching piano. In her spare time she volunteers in her church and is on the Parent Advisory Board at her children’s school. Like many other moms she keeps up with her friends and neighbors using facebook. This is really where her adventure starts. (Full disclosure: Having been a piano student of Kelli’s while we were both at college, I not only can endorse her as a piano teacher but do keep up with her via facebook). Typical facebook posts for Kelli range from “Stupid toe . . . Stupid math book” to “Today M. got his license and A. is on her first date!” Many of her posts are directly aimed at neighbors who live nearby warning of wild dogs, or offering too-small clothes for pick up. At every election I see her encouraging them to vote. With her permission I would like to share some of the posts from the last election held in her city, and the result of these posts. (Note names of her friends have been changed) Kelli – 2 PM September 13 My dear friends, there a lot of lonely poll workers at the elementary school. Please take the time to vote. There is little that you can do today that would be more important. Pray, read your Scriptures, feed your children, then go and vote! So many people fought and died for that right. Let’s make sure that the people on the city council are the ones the citizens want and not ones that are there because of the apathy of the community. Kelli – 10 PM September 13 Does anybody else find it frustrating that there seems to be nowhere you can log on to the Utah County, city council election results? Not even the city website? Anybody have any good ideas?
There were several replies including a link to another post with some results. Kelli posted that she found the results on the city website on the 14th. These results included the voter turnout for the elections. Kelli – 10 AM September 14 12.8% voter turnout? Really? I am totally loading up the sunshine bus next election and driving people to the polls. Sheesh people! You do NOT want to make me this cranky. There were over 28 comments to this post. Here are just a few: Ann Hey, it’s better than last time! Wasn’t it 9% last go-round? I agree it’s awful, though. Betty Sorry Kelly don’t hate me, I didn’t vote… I never feel like I know enough to make a decision on who to vote for. Cathy It made me want to try and vote next year… I didn’t vote. 1) I know nothing about voting, the candidates, the process, or where to go to learn any of that. 2) With 3 babies under 2, it’s difficult to even get dressed in the morning let alone vote. I don’t think the problem is going to vote. That’s easy. It’s that people don’t know who the candidates are… where to learn about it. … would love a newsletter listing every candidate and their platform … I would love to be able to do something like this … Since I know nothing about it though, I’ll need to ask u some questions haha. Like where the heck do I find out that info to put on a newsletter!?!? And a whole lotta more :) :) :) Debi LOOOVVVEEE the newsletter idea. I also didn’t vote for the same reason…
www.AsAMom.org
Eric Maybe someone should run on a platform of “informing citizens about their candidates” Fran PS: Kelli- You went above and beyond your civic duty. None of your FB friends can say they forgot if they logged into FB at all yesterday… Good to have someone encouraging our whole community to do what they should…
a good time to register to vote if you haven’t done that yet. Hope this helps. I’ll update as we get new information. http://saratogaspringsvotes.blogspot.com/
Greta I was inspired by your comments about men fighting and dying for our right to vote and that stuck with me all day. That’s what really made me think hard about my own responsibility to vote and how I could help make more of a contribution… Kelli – …I am with all of you who said that it’s tough to know and it’s tough to figure out where to get information… I would love to see more information on the city website …Many people look there first when trying to get information about local candidates and issues. I did, but found no useful information to help inform my vote. Something you might consider, CATHY, is voting by mail. That is something I have done in the past when faced with the task of getting several small children with me to a polling place… Thanks guys for listening. I am way too politically passionate. I am a great lover of the history of this country. I have spent a lot of time studying how we came to be and how hard some of my greatest heroes fought for rights we so take for granted today. I will try harder to take deep breaths during election seasons in the future. Just be glad you are not my kids and you don’t have to listen to impassioned speeches on a regular basis. :) The posts returned to the more typical daily post. Then almost two weeks later Kelli posted this Kelli – 5 PM September 28 OK, last time I was whining about the poor election turnout, I heard from a lot of you that you struggle to know the candidates, the issues, where to vote, how to register, etc. I’ve put together a blog to help us all stay more up to date during this election cycle. Right now is As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
She did it! After listening to her friends complaints and even answering some of them. She went and created her own answer! A blog of voter information. It had all the requisites of an easy mom project: 1. It is free. 2. It is updateable 3. It is easy to use. I spoke to Kelli by phone, and asked her about this experience. She shared some very important points: Q. How long did this take? Kelli: I put this together one afternoon when I had about four hours of “me” time. I did it as a gift to myself. It doesn’t really matter if anyone else uses it. I did it for me. It is really quick to update. Q. Has anyone else used it? Kelli: Yes, one of the women who didn’t vote came to a meet-and-greet and is now going to vote in November. Q. You have been a real inspiration to me. What would you like other moms to know about this? Kelli: Things get bigger in your mind then they need to be. You don’t need to dedicate your entire life to a cause. It is possible to do something small and make a difference. Thanks Kelli for making a big difference to the citizens of Saratoga Springs. November 2011
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The Most Powerful Office In The World Is NOT The President of the United States! Now wait a minute. Isn’t the President of the United States the leader of the Western World, the man with his hand on the nuclear trigger, the head of a ten-trillion dollar nation? The President is, indeed, the most powerful man in the world - but the presidency is not the most powerful office in the world. Another office is more powerful because it chooses whose names will appear on the ballot for elective office and what will be the policies of the political parties that provide the major support for those candidates. To understand why this office is so powerful, you must understand the Seven Steps of government. 10 MinuteMom Magazine
1. To change things, you have to change the law. Are there things about our country you want to change? Taxes? Deficits? Schools? Crime? Abortion? Gay rights? Government funding of antisocial projects? Government over-regulation of business? Are you satisfied with the way the present Congress is raising our taxes, spending our money, and reducing our liberties? Our Constitution makes Congress the most powerful branch of government. It can pass laws, impose taxes, and spend our money. State Legislatures are powerful, too, especially over public schools. www.AsAMom.org
White House Museum
By Phyllis Schlafly Eagle Forum
So, if you don’t like the present policies, what are you going to do about it? Our Constitution gives us a way to remedy laws, policies, and taxes — members of the House of Representatives in Congress and the lower house of each State Legislature must run for office every two years. 2. To change the laws, you have to change the people who make them. Congress and the State Legislatures pass thousands of laws every year. No citizen or group can possibly read them all, research them to find out their effect in advance, or alert their friends to go into action with letter-writing and phone-calling. Congressmen and State Legislators who have been elected by liberal and anti-family groups will not be receptive to your messages anyway. If you want to change the laws or taxes, you must elect representatives you can reliably count on to vote conservative and pro-family all the time. 3. To be elected, your candidate must be on the ballot. How often have you voted for “the lesser of two evils” when you didn’t like either of the two candidates running for an important office? Have you ever wondered why, despite the rhetoric, both candidates seem to back the same anti-conservative, liberal and anti-family agenda? How many times is a good conservative, pro-family candidate not even on the ballot? 4. To get on the ballot in a general election, you have to be nominated for an office in a Party Primary Election or Convention. The winners in the Party Primary or Convention will be the candidates who appear on the ballot in November. Except in very rare cases, all candidates must first win a Party Primary or Convention. Write-in campaigns are theoretically possible, but they rarely succeed. Third-party candidates are theoretically possible, but unless a candidate has as much money as Ross Perot, running as a third-party candidate probably won’t be successful and the votes may not even be counted or reported. 5. Candidates endorsed by the Party usually win the Primary Election. Most voters don’t investigate the Primary candidates, or even find out who they are. Sometimes, many candidates run in the Primary for nominaAs a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
tion to the same office and the voters are confused. Only a small minority of Americans vote in Primary elections. One of the reasons for the small turnout in Primary elections (in addition to voter apathy) is that you usually must declare yourself a member of one Party or another in order to vote in the Primary. Primary Election rules vary from state to state, but in most states, in order to vote in a Primary you either have to pre-register as a Republican or a Democrat OR ask for a Republican or a Democratic Party ballot on Primary Election day. Most Americans don’t want to do that. The result is that persons nominated to be the “Republican candidates” on the ballot in the general election are chosen by those who are willing to declare themselves “Republican” in the Primary or Convention that selects the nominees.
To change things, you have to change the law. To change the laws, you have to change the people who make them. To be elected, your candidate must be on the ballot. To get on the ballot in a general election, you have to be nominated for an office in a Party Primary Election or Convention. Candidates endorsed by the Party usually win the Primary Election. Primary endorsements are often made by the Party’s “County Committee” which is elected by the Precinct Committeemen of the Party. It’s easy to be elected a Precinct Committeeman.
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Sometimes the Party organization actually “endorses” candidates in the Primary Election. Many voters who don’t know much about the candidates vote for the “endorsed” candidate just because they are disposed to support that Party’s candidate. 6. Primary endorsements are often made by the Party’s “County Committee” (or Township Committee, etc.), which is elected by the Precinct Committeemen of the Party. Each political party has national state, county, township, and (in the big cities) ward organizations (usually called committees or central committees). The county and township committees frequently endorse candidates in the Primary, and that endorsement is often the key to a Primary victory. The county chairman and the county central committee (or executive committee) are elected every two years (usually) by the Precinct Committeemen (sometimes called Precinct Chairmen) who, in turn, are elected in their individual precincts. Thus, the Chairman of the Madison County Republican Central Committee is elected at a county convention of the more than 200 Madison County Republican Precinct Committeemen who were themselves elected on the ballot in the previous Primary Election. It’s not necessary to have a majority of Precinct Committeemen to influence the endorsement process. In a typical county, some will be liberals and some conservatives, but the majority will be Party Regulars who are interested in patronage and power, not issues. They can be influenced to support your candidate if you can persuasively show that he has a good chance to win. For Party Regulars, winning is the name of the game. 7. It’s easy to be elected a Precinct Committeeman. The way you get elected a Precinct Committeeman is usually very simple. In a typical state, you can call your county clerk and get the necessary forms, get ten of your friends to sign a Petition requesting that you be on the ballot in the Primary as a candidate for Precinct Committeeman, and file the Petition by the required date. Then you walk around your precinct, knock on one door after another, and say, “I would appreciate it if you would vote for me for Precinct Committeeman. You will find me on the Republican ballot in the 12 MinuteMom Magazine
Primary election on Tuesday, _______________.” If you win you are the elected Precinct Committeeman for your precinct. Of course, if your precinct already has a good Precinct Committeeman who is doing his job, he may not take kindly to you as an upstart and he may defeat you. You should find out the situation before making your decision. However, a typical county may have dozens of precincts without any Precinct Committeeman because no one has bothered to run. It is sometimes easy to be appointed to one of these positions by calling your Party Chairman. Many precincts have do-nothing Committeemen who can easily be defeated because they don’t do their job. YY To change things, we must change the laws. YY To change the laws, we must change the people who make them. YY To get elected, your candidate must be on the ballot. YY To get on the November ballot you must win the Primary. YY To win the Primary, you must get the support of people who make endorsements in the Primary, who reliably vote in the Primary, and who get out the vote of others in the Primary. Those people are the Precinct Committeemen. Therefore, Precinct Committeeman is the most powerful office in the world because Precinct Committeemen determine who gets the chance to be elected to office at every level of government. Remember, if your candidate is not on the ballot, he will not be elected. Party rules and titles vary widely from state to state, but usually the two parties in a given state use the same system. Where “Republican” is used, “Democratic” can be substituted. The term “Committeeman” is an office, not a person, so it can be a he or a she. Duties of the Precinct Committeeman The Precinct Committeeman is the person who is legally charged with getting out the vote on election day. If he does his job well, he will ring the doorbell of every household in the precinct and ask polite questions to find out the Party and other political views of every voter. (That’s called canvassing.) Then, before each election, the Precinct Committeeman will personally deliver campaign literature (such as a marked sample ballot) www.AsAMom.org
to every voter who is expected to vote for your Party or candidate. Then the Precinct Committeeman makes sure that all his voters get to the polls on election day. This is the way elections are won. Powers of the Precinct Committeeman 1. Friendly access to neighbors. Most people are eager to know more about their government and the people who run it. When you introduce yourself as their “Republican Precinct Committeeman,” they assume you have something to say. You can provide them with information on candidates and issues. Of course, you don’t waste your time on those who would rather get their information from the Precinct Committeeman of the other Party. 2. Respect from elected officials. Since a Precinct Committeeman represents, on average, 500 voters, and has the power to vote for other Party officials and to make endorsements of candidates, any call or letter from a Precinct Committeeman gets the attention of elected officials.
3. Launching pad for other offices. You would be amazed at how many of our Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, and state and local officials started as Precinct Committeemen, and still serve as Precinct Committeemen even though they hold a higher elected office. That’s because they know the power of a Precinct Committeeman. 4. Direct influence over Party Platform, policies, and selection of candidates. At state, district, county, and township caucuses and conventions, the Precinct Committeeman is an active player. He can have a tremendous influence on the adoption of the Party Platform and policies, support of or opposition to issues, and selection of candidates. Reprinted with permission from: Eagle Forum, Alton, IL 62002 www.eagleforum.org Phyllis Schlaflyis has been a national leader of the conservative movement since the publication of her best-selling 1964 book, A Choice Not An Echo. She has been a leader of the pro-family movement since 1972, when she started her national volunteer organization now called Eagle Forum.
Be a Mollytician moll•y•ti•cian |mäl i´ti sh en| noun
1. a mom* who is involved in politics, 2. a mom holder of or a candidate for an elected office. antonym – politician: a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization.
Start by being registered to vote for your party if necessary to vote in your primary elections. Some states have deadlines as soon as December. For more information on primary elections in your state see the October issue of MinuteMom Magazine
* Mom: a member of Asamom.org may be a mom or mom-at heart.
Countdown 2012- Sites that can help you
Electorate Education
As a Mom... understands that we cannot possibly fulfill every need for information especially with the 2012 elections. We have asked several organizations to share their vision with you. It is our hope that you visit these sites and learn how they can help you this year. Just look for the Get Up-N-Vote Logo.
By Elizabeth B. Letchworth Founder GradeGov.com GradeGov.com, a non-partisan website that lets users GRADE any member of Congress, has just reached its 3.8 millionth pageviews as of the first of October, 2011. This free website was the brainchild of the Honorable Elizabeth B. Letchworth, the first and only women ever elected in the United States Senate as the U.S. Senate Secretary for the Majority for the Republicans. GradeGov.com allows registered users to GRADE their member of Congress or any other member of Congress using the all too familiar school grading system of A, B, C, D or F. Once the user chooses the GRADE they wish to assign to the member of Congress, the site prompts the user to write a letter to the Congress-person explaining the GRADE. The site will post the letter for all to see and then deliver the GRADE and the letter to a personal email account in the member of Congress’ office in Washington, DC. Elizabeth first launched the site in April of 2009 just before the birth of the TEA party movement nationwide. GradeGov.com has enjoyed success during these past 2-plus years, due in part to the simple idea that everyone is familiar with a school grading system. The site couples this idea with the school mathematical averaging system to arrive at
GRADE averages for each member of Congress. The GRADE average is computed several times per day. The site limits users to one GRADE per day so as to keep the site representative of the American people and not any organization with an agenda. Since the site uses a simple mathematical averaging system, the GRADES cannot be changed or manipulated in any way. Elizabeth simply serves as the editor of the site. She writes the Congressional Candor news piece found on the home page. Readers can stay abreast of the latest news about Capitol Hill in Washington, DC by reading Congressional Candor. Elizabeth also hosts a twice-weekly radio show entitled “Congressional Candor” where listeners can hear about what’s going on in Congress. The show stresses that the content promises to be: “Easy on the ears… and plain for the brain!” You can hear her radio show live on blogtalkradio. com at 6:30PM EDT every Monday and Friday at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gradegov or check out an archived show on GradeGov.com and click the radio/press link. “Let your voice be heard on GradeGov.com!” The Honorable Elizabeth B. Letchworth is the first and only women elected in the United States Senate as the U.S. Senate Secretary for the Majority and the Secretary for the Minority, both representing the Republicans. Elizabeth is currently a senior legislative advisor at Covington & Burling, LLC and is the owner & founder of GradeGov.com.
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Electorate Education
By Suzanne Haik Terrell Founder Project Gopink The core values and principles of As a Mom... are those that the leadership of our country has lost. Like most principled women, we know America is at a crossroads and as wives, mothers and daughters we must do everything in our power to restore principled, value-based leadership from the State House to the White House. Our families, our communities and our country cannot afford to wait for change, nor can we hope for change… we must work for change, fight for change. And every woman must join the fight and be on the frontline for change. When my three daughters were in elementary school, I decided to run for office. And, I remember that every time I was asked “why?” each sentence began with “As a Mom...” “As a Mom..., I want my children to be safe on the streets… As a mom I want my daughters to be able to find a job… As a Mom and as a daughter, I am worried about my parents and my children…” Those words are as true for me today as they were nearly 20 years ago. These words resonated with everyone I spoke with because it was not campaign rhetoric, it was deep-seated in my core: to protect my family and assure their safe and secure future. Women bring a different perspective and voice to the problems facing our country but we need to be heard. As women, we must have the confidence and support to put ourselves on the ballot or in a position to influence policy. The right to vote is our most basic right, but it is also a privilege; one that many fight and die for. But, many Americans have relinquished this right because of indifference. You (dear reader) have not shown this indifference because you are involved in your neighborhoods, schools, communities and As a Mom... With elections on the horizon we as women, must recognize that we can change the course of our country with a few simple steps: YY Vote in every election no matter how unimportant it seems. Remember that every office-holder has a chance to get to the As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
White House. Less than a decade ago, our current President was a firstterm, state senator. YY Engage others by helping in campaigns or voter registration drives. YY Become well informed about the issues important to you in order to respond to critics and support your viewpoint. YY Find a political mentor or be a mentor In November, a group of principled women will host a conference to explore the tools and techniques to be a candidate or assume a position of influence in a campaign, a movement or an administration. Panels will include women talking about the decision to run, fundraising, social media and grassroots organizing. Principled leaders such as Condoleezza Rice, Governor Jan Brewer, Senator Kelly Ayotte, and Congresswomen Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, and Texas First Lady Anita Perry will share their experiences as we Work for Change. If you would like to join this outstanding group of women review the conference website at www.wwfc2011.com Visit: http://www.projectgopink.com/ Suzanne Haik Terrell is the first and only Republican woman ever elected to statewide office in Louisiana. Married for more than 35 years and the mother of three daughters, her focus is always on her family. A true believer in smaller government, Terrell abolished her own elected position while in office. Terrell founded Project Go Pink, to “build a bench” of Republican women for elected and appointed office. November 2011 15
Electorate Education
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By Carol A. TabeR president, Family Security Matters FamilySecurityMatters.org (FSM), a website devoted to engaging American families in our national security, was born in a somewhat unusual way. On 9/11, Americans were shocked into discovering our national security vulnerabilities by meeting Osama bin Laden’s madness face-to-face; but unlike what happened to most American women, my introduction to Osama bin Laden occurred about three weeks before 9/11 actually happened. I’d read an article about the Taliban and their horrifying treatment of women. Complete covering of face and body, stoning to death for adultery, suffering imprisonment in their own homes, genital castration, arranged marriages, no rights…it was a very bleak and terrifying picture of how human beings are able to treat others with such savage brutality. What seemed to me like World War II and concentration camps all over again was merely everyday life, albeit Medieval-like, to millions of Muslim women in the Middle East. I was truly shocked. The article mentioned Osama bin Laden and his hatred for America, especially since America allowed its women – and all of its other citizens - such freedoms as we enjoy and, unfortunately, take for granted. I remember feeling infuriated as I read the piece and thinking that I’d like to meet bin Laden in real life. Little did I know I would do exactly that, figuratively, in just a few weeks. When 9/11 happened, my husband and I were in Normandy, France, where we’d just come from seeing 16 MinuteMom Magazine
the 10,000 graves of our brave American soldiers who died fighting for freedom towards the end of WWII. We were at a reception when the news came, so I was surrounded by about 50 people – half Americans and half Brits – when, upon hearing the mind-boggling report of jetliners flying into the World Trade Center, I said ‘Oh my God, it must have been Osama bin Laden!’ Every single one of those 50 people looked at me and said, “Who on earth is he?” Not a single person knew of Osama bin Laden. And I knew of him only because I’d read a women’s rights piece, which had nothing to do with our national security, a few weeks before. It was then that I realized I had to do something to help my country let everyone know just who Osama bin Laden was, what ideology he represented, and help communicate the fierce danger we were in because of it. In so doing, the germ of FamilySecurityMatters.org was born. I turned to communication because, in my own career, I’d been a publisher of national women’s magazines. As a publisher, my experience was to carry on a national conversation with my readers, so I turned to the only thing I knew how to do, and married it to the all-important subject of national and family security and sovereignty. I teamed up with Nancy Kennon, who launched the popular “Security Moms for Bush” campaign site, and we were off and running. Today, we have an all-female team (with one exception) which produces FSM every day except Sunday. We are mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, grandmothwww.AsAMom.org
ers and, above all, Americans who love our country. Our mission is to inform Americans about all issues related to national and family security and sovereignty by covering a wide array of such dangers. We help our readers understand that, even though a threat may seem very far away - such as Iran threatening Israel with obliteration or China manipulating its currency to, effectively, destroy American jobs - these threats and momentous events are as dangerous to American citizens - and especially to our sons and daughters, no matter what age they are – as they are to people living in those faraway lands. The question we answer, which political leadership and the mainstream media have neglected, is why these events are as threatening to us as they are to them. We believe that the best defense of our freedoms and security lies with a well-informed public, so answering this question for every threat that faces us was our goal from the beginning and remains so. We wanted to create the best informed readership on the web, and we believe we have accomplished that goal. My father used to say, “The world is a very dangerous place.” But as we learned on 9/11, the world is also a very small place. On that day, American moms, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunts and children were slaughtered right in front of our eyes. Even as of this writing, we have learned of the Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in a Washington, DC, restaurant, which would have killed the other guests and staff as well. These global threats, therefore, must be known about, understood and taken very seriously by American families. The dangers FSM covers range broadly from foreign enemies to domestic ones; institutions like the U.N. which threaten our family sovereignty and rights as guaranteed in the Constitution; how our children are taught about America in public schools and colleges (ultimately a national security threat of the highest order); homeland security; border security; illegal alien issues; belief systems like Jihad; and allies who are unreliable. We cover how Washington politics and politicians help or interfere with our national security and community safety, including economic safety, on international, national, state and community levels; and we also offer strong support of our military and veterans. Our goal is to bring women into the national conversation on the subject of national security, which is why FSM operates under the rubric of family issues. Someone once said that “all politics are personal.” I’d say that indeed they are – in fact, deeply personal. Nothing is more personal, or intimate, than the family, and nothing affects its safety more than the external As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
dangers FSM addresses. Those dangers along with the people at the helm of our national security policies are all put under the microscope on our site. In the post-9/11 world, national security shot up from a vague interest among Americans to one high on our priority lists. Our citizens want to participate in the decisions that keep us safe. According to our research, women, in particular, want information and are more frightened than men, enough to have our political activities focused in ways they hadn’t been before. Our voting has increased by an astounding 43% during the last decade, delivering 10 million more women than men at the voting booth. It was after 9/11 that “security moms” voted for President George W. Bush by a margin of 18 points, thus underscoring how deeply affected women are by real threats to their families. Prior to the launch of the FSM website, there was no other site like ours. So we fulfilled a market need and are now a leading, general audience, national/homeland security-focused site on the web that provides conservative leadership to American families on the most pressing issues of the day. In fact, FSM continues to rank worldwide among the “Top 100” conservative sites on the web. Today, in the post-2008 election world, Americans have awakened to a new menace – from within - the looming and grave threats to American culture and character, to say nothing of family stability, as defined by the Constitution and our capitalist economic system. All of these new issues are dangers to our family security and sovereignty. Americans want to validate with facts what their instincts tell them is correct, so FSM has expanded editorially to fulfill these information needs as well. FSM continues to publish a minimum of 250 articles per month, and a daily a host of videos, articles, a blog, polls, book reviews, news items and breaking news. Our writers and management team continue to appear on broadcast media (radio, television, internet) and some of our management team is now published regularly in other media outlets as well. So please come visit us and sign up for our free newsletter! We can be found at: www.FamilySecurityMatters.org Carol A. Taber, spent thirty years in the magazine business and was a publisher of national women’s magazines. After 9/11, she founded FamilySecurityMatters.org which aims to increase civic involvement and political literacy for American families. November 2011 17
Electorate Education
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By Stephanie Jahn President, iCaucus
iCaucus, was created to bring citizen’s back into the process of electing principled candidates. We present the facts about our representation being selected by “Big Money”, party leaders, and by special interest. It has become a money game and not a policy platform. Through our citizens’ effort we have instilled a proven method to vet candidates, based on principles and the Constitution. With an in-depth questionnaire that requires a commitment to each question, and a citizens’ job interview, we have found that when citizens learn about the candidates first hand, and the candidates take a personal interest in answering to their constituents, we the people select more principled representation. That is why our endorsement is achieved by citizens’ in the district, iCaucus volunteers, and affiliate group members are who vote to endorse a candidate. It doesn’t come from a leader or a board it is given by those who participate in the process from the district. When you take a personal stake in this process you also have the ability to hold them accountable. Our nation was founded on a representative republic, for too long we have allowed the system to fail and therefore we find ourselves at a cross roads of how our country will move forward. iCaucus brought the process to the national level in the 2010 election. Through volunteers across the country, we proved that citizens’ can make the difference. We successfully “vetted”, endorsed and supported 13 federal, and 27 state representatives who now serve “We the People”. http://tinyurl.com/5vaz9m8 18 MinuteMom Magazine
iCaucus is non-partisan, as we will work to remove a corrupt, non-representing Republican just as strongly as a progressive Democrat. Our focus is on principles, and the adherence to the constitutional limitations of government. We want fiscal responsibility, and representation that understands government is a necessary evil with specific limited responsibilities, and understands and respects the oath of office and our Constitution. We have made some changes and restructured after our 2010 elections. We have also added some new features. We listened to the iCaucus “delegates” and incorporated some things that will make the vetting and accountability work smoother; we can also reach into local races, and work with other organizations. Dara Bailey is Vice President of iCaucus and heading up our vetting teams and doing a fantastic job networking and training leaders to facilitate our process. Scott Woods is also Vice President of iCaucus and is heading up our website creation, we are building our department resources and connections as well as great content under his direction. Our biggest issue across the country was splitting the grassroots vote. We believe in our process; we know it works, so we wanted to make is easier for other like-minded organizations to participate. Our affiliate group department allows for this, without garnering email lists or requiring an iCaucus membership. Our National Director of Affiliate Groups, Mitzi Fortune, is accepting agreements from groups across the country and facilitating the unification message and method. www.AsAMom.org
Paperback: List $12.99 - $11.00 Audio Book: List $24.99 - $20.00 Audio only downloads also available: www.longingforeden.com
TRENDY WEB & GRAPHIC DESIGN TM FOR HIP BUSINESSES
Managers of The912-Project.com site WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT WEB SITE RE-CREATION & DEPLOYMENT WEB CONSULTING GRAPHIC DESIGN Special packages for AD CREATION As A Mom Members! LOGO IDENTITY & DESIGN eLEARNING CONTENT CREATION
NETFUSIONSTUDIOS.COM Jason Roberts, president
* also serves on the 9/12 Project board
We are building vetting teams in every state, finding dedicated leadership to facilitate the process is one of our main goals at this point in time. One of our newest endevors is the Sentinel accountability project. We have dedicated volunteers researching legislation for 3 specific criteria: YY Fiscal (does it increase or reduce spending) YY Constitutional (does it uphold or violate the limitations of our Constitution) YY Principles (does it expand or reduce the size of government). Using the iCaucus principles, spelled out on our website, www.icaucus.org bills that fall into these three criteria are then tracked and scored by the votes in the Senate and the House. Every federal representative is ranked through our detailed method. We have two teams, one dedicated to the Senate led by Bill Osofsky and one dedicated to the House led by David Losey. We will be developing this at the State level as well. The more volunteers involved the faster we move into each State! We are known for our research as well, and our research team, led by Ron Adams, is rolling As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
[ [ 330.697.4428
jroberts@netfusionstudios.com
out great information that is detailed and easily shared. Educating our neighbors and communities is critical. Being able to peel back the layers of lies to expose the truth is the goal of this team. Our education department will be bringing enlightening video presentations that will explain issues in a targeted manner so they can be used to open eyes and minds. Our virtual campaign team, led by Darlene Littlejohn, is the hub for our organization and efforts. They deliver through social media, news, research, updates about iCaucus and our endorsed representatives, as well as newly endorsed candidates. Add to all of this, the iCaucus TV Citizens’ Network, and our outreach is complete. We have something for anyone who wants to get involved, to be a part of a strong and effective, truly citizen-based organization.
Stephanie Jahn a mother of eight kids range from the age of 18 up to 26. She is the Executive Director for Barney Hospitality Group, and is the current President of iCaucus. She as been active in the 9/12 movement from the beginning. November 2011 19
Electorate Education
Voting Smart:
By Adelaide Elm Kimball, Board Member & Senior Advisor Project Vote Smart
Anyone who has put a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies in front of hungry children after school knows what a feeding frenzy is. But there is a more sinister feeding frenzy going on right now, centered around unprecedented events on Wall Street, Capitol Hill, and party caucuses; in corporate and banking board rooms; and amplified by the images and media representations of the presidential election season now upon us. Each day news channels and programs, with their star political pundits and personalities stir the pot with opinions and dire predictions, laced with polling data and conflicting statistics. They interpret and dissect the candidates’ appearances and statements, often ridiculing them. Many Americans find themselves drawn to the images and rhetoric in spite of the feelings of anxiety and fear they inspire. But do they actually feel informed about what is going on, what measures Congress may be taking, the ramifications of specific actions or inaction? And how do individual Americans really know, anyway, whether their own elected officials are acting in the best interests of their constituents on any issue? The consequences of NOT knowing are evident today in the gridlock in Congress and our state legislatures. Our representatives are more interested in scoring political points than in making decisions for the common good. How to navigate through the “sound and the fury?” There is a non-partisan, fact-based resource to help people bypass the hype, spin and media cir-
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cus: the nation’s first Voter’s Self-Defense System, courtesy of Project Vote Smart. People can now know what their representatives are doing for them—or to them—because Project Vote Smart is monitoring the job performances of more than 40,000 candidates and incumbents. People can easily find out where their candidates stand on key issues, which special interests groups are supporting them, where they receive their funding, what their backgrounds and job qualifications are, and how to contact them, among many other facts. Over the last twenty years, thousands of volunteers and contributors have enabled Vote Smart to create a one-stop shopping center of millions of facts on every presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative candidate and incumbent in the country—Republicans, Democrats, third party and independent candidates alike. All of this data is carefully researched and reviewed by bipartisan groups of political scientists and journalists, and every member of Vote Smart’s bi-partisan Founding Board, to make sure there isn’t even a hint of slant or bias. It is all available on Vote Smart’s web site (www.votesmart.org), over the toll-free Voter’s Research Hotline (1-888-VOTESMART), free publications (the Voter’s Self-Defense Manual), and finally through the online, interactive tool VoteEasy™. www.AsAMom.org
Photos provided
What’s a Mom to Do?
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To further protect their impeccable reputation of non-partisanship, Vote Smart refuses support from all special interests and will never take a position on any issue and never support or oppose any candidacy. The efforts are funded entirely by foundation grants and individual contributions from about 23,000 supporters nationally. Researchers range in age from college student interns to retired professionals, who volunteer most or all of their time. They work at Vote Smart’s 150-acre Great Divide Ranch Headquarters in the Montana Rockies, and at research offices at the University of Texas, Austin and at the University of Southern California. Signs posted at every office announce, “Check Your Politics At the Door.” A unique component of the Voter’s Self-Defense System is the Political Courage Test. Vote Smart conducts this test of every presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative candidate each election year, measuring one key aspect of their public integrity: their willingness to tell voters how they will handle key issues if elected. However, most candidates, fearing their opponents might use their positions in attack ads, refuse or only respond to a few questions that their consultants stamp as safe. One consultant said, “It’s not our job to educate, it’s our job to win.” Overall, the federal response rate for the Test has plummeted from a national average of 72% in 1996 to only 38% in 2010. These candidates are unwilling to apply for these important jobs by submitting a resume and showing up for the job interview. As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
To confront the lack of political courage in candidates at all levels, Vote Smart staff now dedicates thousands of hours to researching candidates’ public records, statements, and evaluations, in order to infer their likely positions on major issues. This information, along with issue positions submitted by the candidates themselves, is used in a new interactive visualization tool called VoteEasy™, which instantly matches voters with the candidates who best align with their views. It is a fun, fast and easy way to find out which candidates agree with you on the issues you care most about. The newest version of VoteEasy™ will be made available this November, allowing voters to see specifically which 2012 Presidential candidates will best represent their views if elected. Find this tool at www.votesmart.org! Project Vote Smart is providing a resource that enables everyone to vote with the confidence that they know more about the candidates than the simplistic, self-serving rhetoric, hype and spin bombarding us now from all sides. And for busy moms and working women, who have always been the primary educators in our society, it is an essential resource. Voting is a civic duty and a privilege, and using the non-partisan tools in the Voter’s Self-Defense System makes it possible to fulfill that role with self-assurance. As James Madison said, “A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.” Visit: http://www.votesmart.org/ November 2011 21
Electorate Education
By Deborah Ringhaver Lane President Abigail Adams project In 2005, Kimberly Fletcher, founder and president of Homemakers for America (HFA) began to envision a new organization focused on voter education. HFA had been one of the country’s first educational groups for conservative women formed on the heels of 9-11. Soon Ms. Fletcher had identified a need in this country’s election cycles. She wanted to partner with other organizations and develop a way to show voters where the candidates stand on a variety of issues involving family, faith and policy, without reference to their party affiliation. Thus was born the Abigail Adams Project (AAP) and its apolitical voter guide, which showed the candidates answers to various questions, side by side -- minus party identification. And after extensive testing in her home state of Ohio, Ms. Fletcher launched the project nationwide. By 2010, AAP ran successfully in 10 States. But then, given the results of the 2010 elections, it became immediately clear that the Abigail Adams Project would now be dealing with a new breed of voter. These voters, born from inquiry and the determination of their activism, were making a stand for the United States Constitution. They were initially drawn to AAP for its power to identify the statesmen who were campaigning to become our elected representatives. But the post-2010 voter, more aware and educated than in elections past, required something a little different, and more pointed, from AAP. And so the decision was made to use constitutional issues as AAP’s guiding light and its new focus. In anticipation of 2012 being a presidential election year with a potentially higher voter turnout, 22 MinuteMom Magazine
the board of Homemakers for America realized they would need to create an automated system for the Abigail Adams Project in order to survey, perhaps, thousands of candidates in each of the 50 states at every level of government. And by implementing that change, AAP has fulfilled two primary objectives. It has created demand for the highest constitutional standards among available qualified candidates, and is grooming not only citizens and candidates, but our progeny, to become statesmen trained to govern with wisdom and ability in America. Moving forward, AAP continues its original mission to empower the electorate through educating and informing the voters. Through multimedia dissemination of its non-partisan voter guides, the Project shares every qualified candidate’s own responses to the AAP Candidate Survey. By adding to the public discussion and providing educational resources prior to the election, the Project promotes an atmosphere of constitutional literacy and encourages civic-mindedness, while empowering the electorate through nonpartisan, voter education. You can find out more information at www.abigailadamsproject.com. Deborah Ringhaver Lane is a haousewife, mother of four, entrepreneur, and patriot, lives in her home state of Florida. She travels the U.S. extensively to further the goals of the Abigail Adams Project and to promote an atmosphere of Constitutional literacy. www.AsAMom.org
Electorate Education
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By Sonja Eddings Brown Founder KitchenCabinet Ronald Reagan had his own “Kitchen Cabinet” of close, trusted advisers who helped him work through key policies and tough decisions. In 2010, California mother Sonja Eddings Brown decided that in the 21st Century, “The Kitchen Cabinet” should refer to tried and tested conservative women who take their place as trusted advisers who speak to Washington leaders. Some of the first women to take their seats as national “Secretaries” in The Kitchen Cabinet were: As A Mom’s own Lori Parker. Kimberly Fletcher of Homemaker’s for America, Sue Lynch of the National Federation of Republican Women, Jovita Carranza, former Deputy Director of the SBA, Rosario Marin, former U.S. Treasurer of the United States, and others. Providing national leadership, and uniting the giant quilt of great women’s organizations all across the country has been the mission of The Kitchen Cabinet, to help conservative women prepare to express their MAJORITY at the polls. Today over two million readers trust The Kitchen Cabinet to be their source for quick, honest, daily news. The Kitchen Cabinet on Facebook serves 30,000 or more followers who inform themselves by sharing opinions and news of the day in preparation for the Cabinet’s giant Get Out The Vote plan for 2012. “It just seems like economically-conservative women who see their families futures being squandered in Washington, want a place where they can identify and unite. Conservative women are great communicators, we carry water in our communities, we are breadwinners, and we deserve to have a voice in re-setting the priorities of the nationc” says Kitchen Cabinet founder Brown. “If we all look up from our kitchen tables, from our service, from our families, and UNITE our efforts as conservative women, we will have the influence we deserve. That’s the purpose of The Kitchen Cabinet. Unite, Get Out The Vote in 2012 and slam the country into REVERSE.” As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
Our mission is to gather all women: those with and without economic power or influence, who work inside and outside their homes, who are devoted servants in their communities, and who rock the cradles of the next generation. The contributions of women are irreplaceable and our wisdom essential in setting the priorities of the nation. By uniting our efforts, we can create a “Kitchen Cabinet” of informed and concerned women ready to provide leadership and to advise local, state, and national leaders. • We represent the voices of economically-conservative women • We provide leadership on national issues. • We protect the rights of children in the halls of education, justice and commerce. • We demand high ethical standards from all public officials.
The Kitchen Cabinet’s Sonja Brown and Lori Parker are of one mind about the future of the country, and about the importance of every woman, whether she works inside or outside of the home, in having a role in changing Washington. “Lori and I are both mothers, and we are both FURIOUS when we see the futures of our kids being sold down the river by leaders we pay to represent us in Washington. It is time for BOTH sides of the aisle to know that a powerful network of women’s organizations is holding them accountable, and willing to speak with our votes.” Says Sonja Brown “If you have a baby in your arms, or a child in your backseat, if you are an “other” mother to someone else’s kids, believe me, you have a stake in the 2012 election. We ALL do.” http://thekitchencabinet.us/ Sonja Eddings Brown is the President and Creator of The Kitchen Cabinet. A media consultant in Los Angeles, Sonja has represented clients for fifteen years. Active in politics in California, she is an education reformer in Los Angeles and co-founded the largest charter high school in the country. Sonja is the mother of three children. November 2011 23
American Majority: Helping Implement Freedom at All Levels of Government By Ned Ryun American majority Imagine two baseball teams, squaring off in a ten game series. One team is made up of professionals who have trained for years to become better at the sport. Nearly everyone on the team has come through a very good farm team system that has honed and developed their skills, weeded out the less talented, and helped make the team a collection of some of the best in their sport. The opposing team is really nothing more than a collection of walk-ons. Most playing on the team were recently recruited to play, never coming up through the farm team system because there simply wasn’t one. Some playing on this team probably wouldn’t have made it through a farm team system, but due to the need for players, some less-than-talented players have been recruited to play. They are determined athletes, but are new to the game, and their skill set is not nearly as honed as the first team’s. In a series of ten games, who do you think will win the majority of those ten games? You would be right in guessing the professional team with the good farm team system. The other team of walk-ons and new recruits might be able to pull out a few wins. But the odds are that the team which has taken a systematic approach to finding the best talent, refining that talent, and crafting a team of highly trained professionals will win out a majority of the time. That anecdote is told to make this point: in politics, will the “team” with a good farm team system, or one that randomly and haphazardly tries to identify talent, win most of the contests? The next question builds off the first: which “team” in America has a farm team system and which one doesn’t? A quick study of the Lleft and its allies shows a very well developed system that recruits and trains candidates, pushing them into the political system at the local and state level, with the best and most talented rising through the ranks of elected office. The same cannot be said of the limited government, freedom loving “team.” 24 MinuteMom Magazine
What Is It All About? Before we discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a farm team of freedom loving leaders and activists, we have to touch upon why that team is needed. A stable, prosperous country is the goal of every respectable political movement. But thatit is attained only by a philosophy of freedom. And we should understand freedom as a good in and of itself, in addition to understanding it as a means to other good ends. We’ve no doubt heard the phrase, “Ideas have consequences.” While that sounds nice, it’s not entirely trueThat’s not entirely true:. It’s ideas that are implemented that have consequences, and It’s the side in a debate whichwhichever side has the will and the system to implement ideas which wins out and makes sure its ideas have consequences. What we American Majority are is ultimately talking about with a farm team is getting our ideas into the debate early and implementing them from the ground up in our political system. If we say that freedom will lead to a stable and prosperous nation, what are the ideas of freedom we are talking about? We mean limited government freedom: freedom for individuals and freedom in the marketplace. A political system that is built upon those ideals will reinforce itself and lead to prosperity and stability. American Majority American Majority is the leading developer of the nation’s new 21st century grassroots political infrastructure. The organization uses its cutting edge training curriculum to empower individuals and organizations with the most effective tools to promote liberty through limited government. American Majority trains thousands of activists and candidates each year in communities across the country to be catalysts for authentic change in government. As a non-profit, non-partisan organization it is dedicated to developing a new generation of American elected and opinion leadership that will reject the self-destructive policies associated with government expansion. www.AsAMom.org
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Electorate Education
We believe that change begins not in Washington, but in our state and local communities, where the majority of government spending occurs. What We Do American Majority is committed to building this national “farm team” of conservative leadership at the state and local levels. Studies show that over 50% of government spending takes place at the state and local levels, and that 87% of government employees are state and local. Yet for the most part, many in the conservative movement have been focused on the federal level. As an organization, we believe that committed fiscal conservatives and advocates for limited government should populate all levels of government, from school board to Congress. By widening the pipeline and identifying people to run for school board, city council, county commission and the state legislature, American Majority is also creating a “bench” for higher office several election cycles from now. We are also building towards a groundswell that will bring about generational change, not change for one or two election cycles. The American Majority Difference At American Majority, we work to build grassroots infrastructure to affect changes in public policy that will refocus our nation on the power of the free market and individual liberty. We are not a consulting firm. We are not in the pocket of a political figure or party. We are not a for-profit entity and we don’t run campaigns. In everything we do, we stress the importance of building a truly authentic, grassroots political movement to better the lives of every American. Unlike other organizations, we do not seek to co-opt the Tea Party or the other activists and local leaders we train and assist. We believe and seek to foster a bottom-up advancement of conservative ideals in government at all levels using cutting-edge techniques. The Farm Team of Conservatism American Majority wants to take these ideas of freedom for the individual and freedom in the marketplace and develop a farm team of men and women dedicated to those principles and implement them into real world policy. For decades, the unions and the left have been dominating local elections, from school boards to city council to county commission races; identifying, recruiting and training big government, progressive candidates. For the most part, they have been un-checked at that level simply because no one on the right has attempted to focus on identifying and recruiting candidates for As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
local level races. This has allowed the left to dominate at the local level, many times controlling county commissions or school boards that tax and spend in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and sometimes, billions of dollars. And the right has simply sat on its hands and watched the left run rough shod over limited government, free market principles at the local level. In addition, the left’s focus on the local races has allowed it to create a very robust farm team for higher office. American Majority will change that and level the playing field at the local and state level when it comes to identifying and training good candidates. But American Majority does not want to repeat the mistakes that happened many times in the past when conservatives identified and recruited candidates. When a good conservative[HBU1] is found to run for office, we often send them in alone and unarmed, in many ways like a poorly managed baseball team at the beginning: we hastily recruit candidates and throw them into the game unprepared and hope they can win. But if they simply don’t know how the system works, whether it be a school board, city council or county commission, they will not succeed. It will not work to have good conservatives run for office and expect results without arming them with a practical knowledge of the system so that they can be effective in implementing good, practical ideas. American Majority will deliver a winning formula to any candidates it helps identify: they will be trained on how to be effective candidates, from developing a campaign strategy to learning how to message their ideas to developing and instituting a fundraising plan. They will also be given specific good free market, limited government policy points that need to be fought for and implemented while they are in office. And they will be trained on how the particular office that they are running for works. We Need You Our country is in great danger, with high unemployment, massive deficits, and headed down the path of statism. But we can, if enough of us are willing, turn this around and get American back onto a path of freedom and prosperity. I am convinced that America, if it renews the ideals of limited government and true free enterprise, will climb to even greater heights in the 21st century. It will only happen, however, if people will be willing to put their hand to the plow and do the hard work necessary in their local communities so that we can have a groundswell that will bring national, and generational, change. Visit http://americanmajority.org/ November 2011 25
YYFounding Mothers
Founding Mot hers By Carrie Christiansen
Samuel Adams is called “Father of the American Revolution”, and rightly so. A gifted statesman and political philosopher, he could be considered the individual most responsible for drawing the masses into the fight for freedom from the tyranny of the British government. America is blessed to have had him, but without the two understanding, resourceful, and patriotic women who married Adams, he may not have been able to be the “Palinurus to the Revolution”, as Thomas Jefferson described him. While Samuel Adams, cousin of second president John Adams, was a dedicated statesman, spending all his time on politics and the country, he was a poor family man. He lacked good business instincts, was uninterested in making money or possessing property, and so committed his wife and children to care for their home in poverty. Samuel Adams’ first wife was Elizabeth Checkley, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Checkley. The Adams and Checkleys were close friends and the Adamses attended Rev. Checkley’s New South Church. Despite Adams’ reputation as a poor businessman and manager, due to his obsession with politics, the Checkleys were pleased when Samuel, 27, and Elizabeth, 24, decided to marry in October, 1749. Adams was very much in love with Elizabeth and they started a family in their first year of marriage. Of the first five children born to Elizabeth, only two survived infancy: Samuel Jr. and Hannah. Elizabeth died in 1757 from complications giving birth to their sixth child, who was stillborn. Upon her death, Adams described his wife “...as sincere a friend (to her husband) as she was a faithful wife. Her exact economy in all her relative capacities, her kindred on his side as well as her 26 MinuteMom Magazine
own admire. She ran her Christian race with remarkable steadiness and finished in triumph! She left two small children. God grant they may inherit her graces!” Her death was a serious blow to Adams, and was just the first of several misfortunes he experienced at the time. His inherited malt house was failing, his house was falling into disrepair and by 1760, he would be bankrupt. In December, 1764, Adams, now 42, married Elizabeth Wells, 13 years his junior at 29. In the seven years that passed between his marriages, Adams had become an influential official of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Boston Town Meetings, where he was elected tax collector. It was here, in his writing the Boston House instructions, that he famously highlighted the dangers of taxation without representation. Elizabeth Wells Adams was the wife who would have to cope the most with Adams’ complete selflessness to his country. Elizabeth Wells was the daughter of an English merchant and close friend of Adams. History states that while Elizabeth lacked the charisma and intellectualism of the era’s other well-known political wives, she was well-suited to be Adams’ partner in the most difficult part of his life. She bore no children herself, but lovingly raised Samuel Jr. and Hannah as her own. Adams’ heavy involvement in politics kept him constantly occupied and rarely paid, but there is no evidence that Elizabeth or the children questioned his priorities or lacked support for him. She was resourceful and skilled in the home, able to make do with every allowance afforded them to maintain a comfortable home and raise happy, well-cared for children. Fortunately, for Adams, Elizabeth seemed as content with poverty as he was. Despite Adams’ apparent neglect of his family, he www.AsAMom.org
Silhouettes Loc.gov unknown women about 1800
Founder’s Wives: Elizabeth Checkley Adams & Elizabeth Wells Adams
did not lack love for them. In June 1775, he wrote to Elizabeth, “It is painful to me to reflect on the Terror I suppose you were under, on hearing the Noise of War so near. Favor me, my dear, with an Account of your Apprehensions at that time, under your own hand. I pray God to cover the heads of our Countrymen in every day of Battle, and ever to protect you from injury in these distracted times.” Elizabeth replied, “…I thank you for your kind Concern for my Health and Safety. I beg you Would not give yourself any pain on our being so Near the Camp; the place I am in is so Situated that…I should be able to make an Escape…” After the Revolution, Adams served as a delegate to the first and second Continental Congress, then finally retired in 1781 for health reasons and his desire to focus on politics back in Massachusetts. His retirement was anything but, and he spent most of his time in an office in Boston. He finally earned a better salary, but Elizabeth likely saw her husband as little as usual. With the creation of the United States Constitution, he was again heavily involved in the political scene. Fighting to be sure the federal government would not gain too much power with the new Constitution was his priority. Even after the ratification of the Constitution, he continued to work for amendments and by 1791, helped to create the Bill of Rights. Adams devoted five more years of his life to his country until the tremors he had experienced for more than 15 years became so bad he was unable to write and he finally truly retired. During the time of the ratification of the Constitution, Samuel Jr. had died from complications of an illness he contracted during the war, where he served as a surgeon in General Washington’s As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
army, and left his parents all of his wealth. As a result, the last seven years of their lives together were much more financially secure and they died with considerable wealth. Samuel Adams died of old age, at 81, in 1803 and Elizabeth, at 68, in 1808. Samuel Adams played an undeniably significant role in the creation of the United States. His wives, while not caring for troops at battle or spurring debate in Congress with numerous letters, served their country just as well. Their service and sacrifice were in contentedly carrying on independently; cheerfully living as well as they could with what they had so someone else could use their strengths in the fight for our freedoms, not unlike the families of our current military servicemen and women. The steady support they provided with their great sacrifice of time together and financial comfort is not to be ignored nor thought of as insignificant. When my own family sees opportunities to serve our great country, I hope I will take my chance to serve by unselfishly providing whatever support is needed. Reprinted by permission of Liberty Ink Journal. Revised
Carrie Christiansen is a Seattle native, now residing in Loveland, CO. She earned a B.S. degree in Animal Science from Montana State University, which she now puts to good use as a wife and stay-at-home mom of two young children. November 2011 27
Why “Occupy Wall Street” Matters What began with dozens of ne’er-do-wells on Constitution Day (September 17th) is now a multi-continent event. With the “Day of Rage” on Saturday, October 15th we witnessed thousands in the streets across much of Europe, and thousands more at home. In Rome, the demonstrators assaulted police and private property with bricks and stones, causing police to respond with tear gas and water cannons. Some groups of demonstrators in Germany were masked and carrying clubs – their purpose clearly not a peaceful protest. In New York, “Occupy Wall Street” (OWS) morphed into a march on Times Square. Many thousands of students, union members and their ‘paid-for protesters’, the unemployed and a smattering of ‘professional demonstrators’, anarchists, and even Ron Paul supporters added their voices to the cause, or causes. And, perhaps not coincidentally, Reverend Al Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) held their “Jobs and 28 MinuteMom Magazine
Justice” rally and march in Washington, D.C. the same day. Co-sponsors and affiliated groups included AFSCME (the government employees union), SEIU, AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, and the NEA (the powerful teachers union), among others. The media has been frenzied for weeks, each laboring to put a label on the demonstrators and trying to discern their message and future direction. But the crowds and their varied interests and causes seem to confound definition. However, the seeds of OWS (brainchild of AdBusters, a Vancouver based, not-for-profit activist group) were sown months ago by founders Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz. But to what purpose or end did they make this call to action? Looking to their foundation’s mission statement is perhaps instructive: “We are a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social www.AsAMom.org
David Shankbone for Wikimedia Commons.
By Philip Johnson
activist movement of the information age. Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century.” --AdBusters Media Foundation (emphasis mine). AdBusters was founded in 1989 and boasts a circulation of 120,000 for its bi-monthly magazine. Its international editions span Australia, Sweden, France, Norway and Japan. Community organizers going global, I guess. But these are serious, creative, thoughtful people who have gained a significant following both in North America and abroad. That last sentence no doubt caught your attention as it did mine: “Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we live in the 21st century”. To me, it sounded a lot like Mr. Obama’s pre-inaugural warning (or promise), “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Statements like these give me pause. Toppling existing power structures or fundamentally transforming a nation seems to line up well with the Occupy Wall Street message. Over the past several weeks I have watched hours of livestream video, seen many “occupier on the street” interviews, and have read countless tweets sent to and from protesters in New York and elsewhere. Together they have forged a montage of revolution in the making – an anti-capitalist rebellion. And while their numbers are not yet significant, their reach and influence is becoming so as the media laps up every action and nuance. The “99%”, as they call themselves, have at least one common theme, their hatred and distrust of the big banks and brokerages. Many among them extend these feelings to multi-national corporations and the rich (the “1%”) in general, and some to corporate/government cronyism. What brought each individual to New York and elsewhere, though, spans the ridiculous to the sublime. Many are university students or graduates calling for forgiveness of their student loans. Many there are demanding jobs, or a “living wage”, or an end to foreclosures, or free anything and everything. And there are those who just want to stick it to the rich, either through higher taxes or through confiscation. And some are there because they just don’t know where else to turn. It is a shame really that because so many of the participants are such ultra fringe, some reasonAs a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
able complaints and cases of real suffering are lost due to the messaging and messengers. We are indeed in a world of hurt in this country. The OWS crowd views capitalism, big banks, and corporate greed as the cause. Unfortunately, we are what we teach. For decades, our students have been fed a steady stream of Progressive thought. From grade school through the universities, we are beginning to see that a different set of values and a corrupted view of our history and principles is being taught and cemented in the minds of our youth. This worldview is supported by much of the media and the Progressive leadership in Washington, D.C., not least our own President. When you consider each of the protester’s concerns or complaints, it is easy to find examples of the same sentiments from Mr. Obama --bankbashing, talk of corporate greed, the haves and the have-nots, the millionaires and billionaires not paying their “fair share”, and a desire for equality of outcomes. With a presidency that began with a worldwide apology tour, Mr. Obama has railed against almost every major industry in the United States, faulting big pharma, big oil, big insurance, big banks and others for our economic malaise. With his redistributionist philosophy and anti-capitalist rhetoric, is it any wonder that these people are now in the streets echoing this mantra? Many others in academia, government and media have added their voices to the chorus. The aforementioned Reverend Sharpton made this statement on Tom Joyner’s Morning Show: “We cannot sleep through the revolution…because those students, those young people that started a movement that’s now spread over the country are right about the distribution of wealth and the 1% controlling the country.” MSNBC analyst Donny Deutsch recently spoke about the “clarifying moment” of the 1960s movement and “its most stirring image” - Kent State. He almost seemed to yearn for “a climax moment” of class warfare somehow played out on-screen to articulate the clash. Illinois State Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. in a press interview this week, called on the President to “declare a national emergency” and “take extra-constitutional action administratively” and have the Federal Government directly hire the 15 million unemployed at an average salary of $40,000. He also called on the President to erase November 2011 29
state and local government debt. Arun Gupta, Editor of New York’s Indypendent News, a part of Independent Media Center (IMC), was interviewed this week at OWS and was asked about the Occupied Wall Street Journal, the newspaper that quickly appeared on the streets of New York. His answer as to how it came into being was that it is a group effort, a coming together of Naomi Klein (linked to AdBusters), Code Pink, Michael Moore and Anonymous, among others. (Gupta’s own organization, IMC, has been the beneficiary over the years of $376,000 in grants from George Soros’ Tides Foundation and Open Society Institute). His characterization of the movement – “This is a social media revolution…global capitalism is the problem”. Seemingly echoing the thoughts of Jesse Jackson, Jr., Mr. Obama , speaking of his frustration with Congress and his “Jobs Bill”, said this, “But we’re not going to wait for Congress…I’ve instructed ( Jobs Council members)…to scour every corner and identify all those areas where we can act administratively without additional Congressional authority, and just get it done.” And then there is Van Jones, president of the “Rebuild the Dream” group, and former White House Green Jobs Czar, who has put together a coalition of more than 70 progressive, union, and socialist organizations. Their goals mirror FDR’s infamous “Second Bill of Rights”. Van Jones appears almost daily on one or another liberal talk show expressing his support and solidarity with those occupying Wall Street and speaking of his “Progressive fight-back”. Similar expressions of support and solidarity with the cause have been heard from Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (head of the DNC) and many other Democrat legislators, all yearning for their version of the Tea Party. It is clear to see that all the “usual suspects” are circling the wagons with the OWS crowd. Coupling these far-flung groups and organizations, pundits, politicians and union leaders, I am reminded of the Madison, Wisconsin movement earlier this year, only on a much grander scale. Notably and thankfully, to date, both the OWS protesters and the police have shown restraint and violent behavior and property damage have been minimal. I pray it remains that way. Make no mistake though, the likes of Donny Deutsch 30 MinuteMom Magazine
are many, pining for that “climax moment”, that Kent State event, to stir the masses and define the movement. “Occupy Wall Street” is the culmination of a deteriorating economy, widespread fear and frustration, and a convoluted and misunderstood or mischaracterized cause-and-effect view. This movement is sure to have some legs with the widespread support of the aforementioned parties and a potent, progressive media endeared to the causes. On one thing I agree with Donny Deutsch. He has wrapped up the OWS group cause as leading to a call for corporate social responsibility – a nice sounding term. But behind it, he is effectively seeking a socialist/fascist political system that will hold major businesses under the thumb of the Federal Government, governing hiring, wage, and employment practices. In recent weeks and months, we have witnessed the NLRB dictating to Boeing (our largest exporter). We have seen Dick Durbin on the Senate floor calling on Bank of America customers to run on the bank, and we have heard the relentless class warfare rhetoric from our President. Is there any doubt as to the direction we are moving as a country? Nikolai Lenin, founder of modern Communism, told us long ago, “Give me your children for four years, and the seed I plant will never be uprooted.” Supported by our liberal media and dumb-downed by our schools, our children and young adults have bought the socialist view hook, line and sinker. They have been weaned on “The Story of Stuff ” and “The Rainbow Fish”, then steered in our institutions of “higher learning” by the likes of Bill Ayres, Bernadine Dorn, Frances Fox Piven and Ward Churchill. Lenin only required four years. Remember the Nazi youth? We have given over our children for a generation or more. As I wrote earlier, we are what we teach. “Occupy Wall Street” is simply the latest manifestation of our education system; our failure to teach our American history, values and principles. The underpinnings of our civilization have been lost. Our Founders knew their experiment in selfgovernment and individualism could only exist with a moral and educated people. We are failing on both counts. We see the results in the lack of personal responsibility, the moral degradation in our society, the www.AsAMom.org
Principle 1: America is good. Take control of your child’s future. Teach them our history.
The Exclusive 9/12 Project Youth Program ConstitutionalChampions.org decay of the traditional family unit, and the gangrenous infection that has gripped the government/big business complex. The “Occupy Wall Street” crowd has rightly identified some of the symptoms of our decaying society. Now we need to attack, with vengeance, the real disease. I am saddened by what I see occurring in our country and by the stresses and heartaches felt by so many families and individuals across America. Many feel helpless, hopeless and angry. Few families in America have been left untouched. For those who, through no fault of their own, have lost jobs or homes, or have seen their savings devastated, one cannot help but be moved. There are some demonstrating on Wall Street that fall into this group, and their frustration and anger is warranted, though partly misdirected. If the jobs, debt, and economic crisis weren’t enough to face, we also clearly have an enormous deficit in education and values. These deficits are evident with many protesters on Wall Street, and for that matter, in the halls of Congress. There is no understanding of very basic economics, no understanding of business – how it works and the benAs a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
efits that accrue to all through their success. Our core values of faith, family, hard work and personal responsibility have been undermined, forgotten or ignored. “Occupy Wall Street” may be a small, forgotten footnote a decade from now, or it may turn out to be the tipping point for America, defining our next generations. Which it will be, I can’t foretell. But as with the rise of the Tea Party and 9/12 movement, and now OWS, it is clear America is grappling with a momentous decision. Will we restore the Founders’ vision of America or will we fully embrace the Progressive/Socialist vision? Again, I don’t know. But I will pray for the former. © Philip Johnson, Freedom Farm
Philip Johnson is a thirty-year marketing and advertising veteran, primarily focused on assisting small businesses. In 2006, he launched Showcase Publishing , a directory publishing company in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. It currently serves some 550 small businesses. In 2010, Philip launched his blog: http://freedomfarm.me and is currently writing his first novel, tentatively titled “The New Americans” . November 2011 31
Taste of the “Real” World
I am a Christian, homeschooled, high school senior. All of my life I have been surrounded by people of strong Christian character. And throughout my academic career I have met countless highly motivated, academicallyminded, faith-filled homeschooled students. So when I was given the opportunity to take a class at a private Christian college, I expected to see the same attitude and motivation I had experienced with my homeschooled friends, in my new college classmates. On my first day of class I packed my bags and headed out with hopes of making many new friends and a particular image of my classmates ingrained in my head. I expected most of them to be scholarly and super brilliant, making me stick out as the inexperienced high-schooler. My first class was fine and my second class was okay. The few people I met had been alright and the teacher wasn’t drowning us with homework. In fact, there was honestly very little homework. The third week though, I started seeing and hearing things I hadn’t before. I was sitting outside of the classroom with time to spare before class started. A few minutes after I arrived, a few guys came in, sat down and began having a conversation. They were complaining about how much they hated the class and how stupid it was. I couldn’t believe it. It really wasn’t a bad class. The teacher was nice and the point of the class was to help prepare us for writing college research papers. After hearing a couple minutes of complaining, I went into the classroom and sat down. I wasn’t interested in listening to any more, but I figured ‘Hey, people whine. It’s not really that big a deal,’ and assumed the complaining would be the extent of things. But I was wrong. That same day, we had a substitute teacher. She didn’t know what time 32 MinuteMom Magazine
the class ended, so at 1:17 she asked the class. The chorus of responses from various students was 1:20. However, the actual end time was 1:40. Since I had been in the classroom when people had begun to arrive and heard them completely unsure of what time the class started, I assumed they were also confused about the end time. So I spoke up and informed the teacher of the correct time. While she thanked me, all the male students sitting in the rows in front of me turned around and glared at me. Even though I just stared back, mentally daring them to mess with me, I felt mortified. I mean, I was the only high school student in the class as far as I knew, and I already felt like I had a big neon sign above my head singling me out as the loser, the one too young for them to bother speaking to. Even before this incident no one talked to me; they kept in their little groups. But suddenly I felt even more out of place. This class really cemented for me that I had been giving these people far too much credit, and each subsequent week I noticed more of the same.
The students spent a great deal of time on Facebook throughout class every week. These Christian college students swore regularly, and at the beginning of class one week, one of the guys tried to convince people to do a little cheating by forwarding their homework to him so he could submit it as his own. A little while later he called the class “a joke”. Each week I walked away amazed. These people were completely different than I had imagined. To me, they seemed to be more like high school students than I was. It’s like they’ve made up in their minds to not like the class, so they don’t. They would rather waste the money someone is spending to send them here, than apply themselves. And honestly, it’s not as if they’re just throwing away a couple of dollars. Credit hours are not cheap. At this school, each credit hour is $564. That is definitely not money I would want to waste. Sure, there are always going to be classes that we aren’t big fans of, and hey I’m not claiming to be perfect. There are times when I feel completely unmotivated to do my homeschool work. But my view on this class is completely different. I’m using my own money and spending two hours of my time a week to be in it (not including the hour and a half total I spend driving there and back each week). So I’ve made up my mind to apply myself and strive to get good grades. One day after class I was talking to my mom about all the things I’d been seeing and experiencing. Toward the end of our discussion she turned to me and said, “Unfortunately, you’re getting a taste of the real world.” I put on a mock serious face and replied, “Well can I spit it out now?” Because honestly, it’s leaving a pretty sour taste in my mouth. —Noelle Steiger , MI
www.AsAMom.org
photo by Mikayla Steiger
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God, Family & Country...our Personal Responsibility! What is it about responsibility that makes some people cringe and others rise to the occasion? Some may say that being responsible makes a person a leader. And yet others might insist that being a leader makes someone responsible. As we can see from our government, the latter is not true. While it may make them responsible in terms of liability, it does not mean they will own their choices, or fulfill moral obligations. To be responsible- personally responsible-means to fulfill a trust, a commitment; to be dependable and reliable. What does it mean to take possession or claim something that was the result of your action or inaction? It simply means to own it! So, what is it we need to take ownership of, and what is it that we have committed to? Our responsibilities lie in three main categories; God, Family and Country. The rise and fall of each of these is dependent upon our willingness to fulfill our responsibilities, as well as accepting accountability of the outcome. This country was founded under the direction of God. The mention of Him on our founding documents is a testimony of the faith of our progenitors. The Declaration of Independence and our sacred Constitution edify and recognize Divine Providence as the compass that pointed to the path of liberty and freedom for this nation. His name is on our currency, in our Pledge of Allegiance, and used in our state and federal buildings. And yet, He has been taken for granted like some disposable being that unless people see with their eyes, they fail to believe. In the book Aspire, by Kevin Hall I’m reminded of the Latin term, “Sapere Vedere”. Sapere means to know, while vedere means, to see. The translation is, “believing is seeing”, or simply put...faith! We need As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
to find our faith in God again. Each member of society needs this faith to stand the storms ahead. We owe it to Him and it is our personal responsibility to renew our faith in Him, simply because, He has faith in us. The fall of any nation is not only preceded by a country that no longer believes in God, but the breakdown of the family. Strong families are the core of every noble society. We as Mothers have a duty to our families to teach and instill strong faith-based values as well as the core principles of integrity, courage and honor. It is imperative that we take this seriously. We must not discharge our duties as women or men, Mothers or Fathers. We have been blessed with the choice responsibility of parenthood. To be a valuable influence in the lives of our children is completely understated in our society. As parents we are up against opposing forces every day. We see the results of broken families at every turn. Our children are bombarded with negative influences all around them and we notice more and more that the family is targeted for defeat. If there is one power that can withstand the evil influences of the day and triumph, it would be strong families centered on God. There is no greater blessing than to know your children have been raised in such a way, that when they leave your care, they have been taught of wise parents and can chart their lives with integrity, courage and honor. We must weather the storms with our children, set the tone for our homes and create an environment where the light of truth presides. Our country, our America has been a beacon of light to all other countries. That light is dimming. Our America needs us. Over the last 200 years we
have been fortunate as a nation that most of our freedoms still remain intact. However, little by little, efforts have been made to ignore, amend, replace or altogether forget the freedoms that our Constitution allows. We as a people must be willing to know what those freedoms are. We as a people must be willing to defend those freedoms. And we as a people must have the courage to take a stand where this valuable and sacred document is under attack. The Constitution of the United States leads us and sets us apart from other nations. It has given us the ability as a people to set our paths on the course to freedom and it must be preserved! This document was literally initiated by our Creator. Wise and noble men were the tools to make it happen. And now, men and women of faith and courage will be the tools to make sure it stays that way. We have a personal responsibility to defend our country, to vote for noble leaders, and to stand for our Constitutional freedoms and liberties and see that right prevails. We as a people must not give in or give up, our country depends on us. We must resolve ourselves to wanting nothing less than freedom for our America. What better blessings could a people receive than a belief in God, strong & courageous families and a country where freedoms and liberties are the standard. This value- personal responsibility- is not an easy one, but it is one of the best because it shows our willingness to take a stand. To be counted among those that gave their all. It will take hard work, effort and commitment. The blessings of which will be self-discipline, trustworthiness and the knowledge that because of our efforts, this nation will be a better place for our children. —Kami Watkins , CA November 2011 33
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“There will always be a remnant…” I heard my Pastor say once many years ago. The words sowed hope in my heart then, and spring duty in my mind today. The remnant, the word bounces back and forth on the walls of my brain like the clapper on a bell. Each time it rings, I feel my soul tremble with anticipation in the context of our current social-economical-political affairs. If you are like me, you must be, by now, nearing the point of consumption after immersing yourself deeply in the various arguments, punditry and news cycles. You watch, you listen, you read, you think and analyze the news of the hour and are left wondering what have we become as a people. In the midst of economic chaos, of government overreaching, of in-your-face-corruption, of misuse of public funds, of entitlement mentality, of global schemes and environmental scams we look around in confusion trying to find our way. In this age of the so-called-tolerance, except for all things Christian; we listen and we walk away hammered by the present, and crushed by the weight of an uncertain future. The matters of the day give us the uncanny ability to forecast a future of debacle creeping up in the horizon. The words of the rulers of our times speak only of this impending great disaster if they don’t do this or the other, and we are left trembling because we too see it, though in slightly different terms. We see it coming in the decay of society; in the senseless destruction of life; in the destabilization of marriage; in the attempts against the family; in the premature end of the innocence in the 34 MinuteMom Magazine
youngest of our children aided by the official hands of the enabler; in the force-fed indoctrination in our schools and in the institutionalization of the age of godlessness. We feel as if we are standing at the brink of a great abyss. This is an abyss of depravity without boundaries, which seeks to devour us, our loved ones, our nation, and everything that we hold sacred. How could this be happening here? America is the one place left on earth where every oppressed being longs to escape to, even if just in his mind. America is the one place where dreams of freedom still can and do come true. Yet I sadly wonder, for how much longer. As I watch my homeland being enslaved to a bankrupt morality while the brave and the free sleep, I wonder what is to come. We are left every day to think about all these things and ask if there might be something that we could do, or if it is all lost. It could never be lost. Not on our watch, we resolve as we embark on a quest for answers. We embark on this journey to seek the truth and to find true hope. We find our plumb line on the worn out pages of our study Bible. We hold our sacred map in our hands, and as we leaf through it, we start to navigate the rushing waters guided by His Word. We shiver in terror as we recognize our own experience in the timeless accounts of the slavery of the Hebrews under Egyptian rule; or the graveyard full of dry bones in Ezekiel; or the takeover by the Babylonians. We plea with Habakkuk, “How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not
listen, (Habakkuk 1:2), Then find out that though shaken, we do not break. Though tired, we do not stop to rest. Though oppressed, our hearts do not sink. Though afraid, we do not despair, for we know Who holds the future, and we know Who holds us. For we know that evil cannot touch us even if we walk in his valley of sorrow, darkness and need. We press on because we hear the Lord reply to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do.” (Exodus 6:1). We press on because we know that David defeated the giant with just one stone. We know that God will always raise up Daniels and give them the strength to lead lives of integrity in environments of disgrace. We do not rest in our journey because we know that up ahead we will see God’s answer to Habakkuk’s prayers, and tremble at the command “...to look at the nations and observe and be utterly astounded for something is taking place in our days that we will not believe when we hear about it.” And how the end “...delays… but will certainly come and not be late.” (Hab 1:2) We press on because we trust His promises and we know that His name is faithful and everlasting and never-changing, and because we bear His seal on our foreheads. We press on because we are the remnant. Like Esther, we were born “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). It is our commission, to be the remnant, and we accept it. We are David facing a Goliath of societal debacle. We are the dry bones clothed with new flesh to praise the Lord in the midst of godlessness. We are the split rocks that www.AsAMom.org
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The Remnant
explode at the presence of the Divine when no one else would recognize it. We are the remnant that has been crucified with Christ and no longer lives, but lets Christ live in us. We are the remnant that does not conform to the patterns of this world, but is transformed by the renewing of our minds. We seek Him first, and we know that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us. We bring the light to this fallen world and spread the good news to those who might still want to hear it. We know that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, and that the Lord will not forsake those who trust in Him. So --yes-- there will always be a remnant, and today, that remnant is us. Let us take heart, put on the full armor of God, and do what we are supposed to do to bring glory to our loving, living and mighty Lord. Let’s not allow the enemy to drive away with our beloved ones heading toward the cliff. Let’s rise up, be courageous and not take our eyes from Jesus. We can take back this country. The remnant can. —Gisela Dieter
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YYValues The other day I went to the grocery store and I asked to speak to the manager. After the manager arrived I told him I had looked at all the product labels on the bread isle and every single one of the loaves of bread with the exception of one had “soy” as an ingredient. ‘In fact, if you look at ingredients,’ I told the manager, ‘you will note “soy” in many things; it’s almost as if soy has become the new staple; almost as if it were the new food group.’ I then told the manager, how I remembered a few years ago, “soy” was trumpeted as the new-fangled what ever and as I described to the manager ‘the art of looking at labels and all things soy,’ I asked that he talk with someone at the corporate level of his company about the ingredient, as I actually have a sensitivity to soy. In fact, many people are allergic to soy. ‘You see,’ I continued, ‘when the government decides that something is good for you, they ask the corporations to put the ingredient into food products, just like wheat is now in almost every food product because the government has deemed that wheat is also good for you.’ As I spoke to the manager, I asked him to talk with his corporate folks and lodge the complaint with them on my behalf. His response was, “I can do it, but it won’t matter”. I said, ‘What did you say?’ And the manager repeated almost exactly the same thing adding, “I don’t have much sway with the corporation” and thus, “there isn’t much I can do.” I said, ‘Okay, I guess I can understand that. What is your manager’s name because I’d like to talk to him/her. You see,’ I continued, ‘if everyone thinks they can’t do something, then it’s true. “Can’t” becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.’ The next manager came and I again explained my sensitivity and how soy is actually being over used. I told the manager I knew the grocery industry 36 MinuteMom Magazine
quite well and I knew he had buyers who bought bread. The managers’ eyes grew a bit round with amazement as I went on to tell him I used to work in the grocery industry and had spent about 10-12 years working my way through college and I understood just how much power a buyer had with the manufacture of a product.
The manager acquiesced and said, “Okay”, he would pass along the information. He didn’t know if it would do any good, but he would be sure to talk to the buyer about it. Now it’s true, I don’t know if it did any good to lodge my complaint with the manager, or if my complaint reached the ears of the buyer, or even if it will make one wit of difference, but this is what I do know. If no one says a thing, if no one does anything, then nothing will ever change. You see, if ordinary people do nothing, then nothing extraordinary can happen and as I think about the ordinary people in Egypt and Libya, I think it is extraordinary, that after all these cen-
turies as a country and a people, that they took this moment in time to ask their government for liberty and representation because they want freedom. Now, no one knows how it will turn out and it’s true I have my doubts, but as I think about America on a different path, I think, what can ordinary people do? I know what I have done and I know that there is no guaranteed of outcome, but if ordinary people do nothing, than nothing extraordinary can change. If ordinary people divest themselves of the facts of the current path America is on and with regard to all the talk of “re-distribution of wealth”, or “investment” as it is now called by this administration, if ordinary people do nothing, then nothing can change. As I think about America and I think about the call for a “global government” and the call for a “new world order” and the call for “transformation” and as a way to “invest” in America and the meaning of these words and the lack of definition from this administration, it seems to me, these words are just code for more spending, more redistribution of wealth from ordinary American’s pockets in the form of more taxes. I think of the lack of job creation, a lower standard of living, and that fact that ordinary people seem to think they have not much power. However, I know the power of people and the power of individuals banding together with one mind. And not only am I convinced that the power of people can do extraordinary things, I know that if we band together with a mind of creating jobs, with more efficiency, with better and cheaper products, with the idea of creating new ways to power America, that we can make the change for a better America. So, with one voice, one aim, we need to tell our government to quit spending money as if America is made of it; www.AsAMom.org
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Just the Lives of Ordinary People
quit telling us to “invest” in America with more spending on all kinds of things that have nothing to do with the needs of the American people; quit creating a centralized, all-powerful government. Yes, we need to politely say to our government, “Get the hell out of our way”. If you think you can’t, then you won’t make things change, so as you read these words, I wonder, what you will do. What action will you take to politely and non-violently make your voice heard about the path America is on? Will you do the extraordinary task of making friends, family and neighbors aware of all things socialist and ultimately communist couched in terms such as “investment”, “transformation” and “change”? Will you discuss the real meaning of these words, or will you continue to relinquish your interest in America to a government that doesn’t give a damn about what you want, but only wants what it wants-- even if it means that your life would be worthless to the world, a world without a free America. A world without an America based on liberty and freedom and the pursuit of happiness. A world without a beacon of light on the hill called America. If you can do the simple tasks of giving a book to a friend to read, or an article to pass along, or just your opinion about how the past few presidents have taken us away from liberty, away from freedom...just think how many ordinary people might achieve extraordinary things. Because if you do nothing, then nothing will change —Just a stay-at-home mom Denise H. Pursche, CA
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YYAs Seen on AAM Taking away parental rights state by state (HPV vaccines, the sexing up of our kids... What is your state up to and how does it affect your kids??? It seems like we are up against a huge wall when it comes to protecting our children and instilling and keeping our values and beliefs as the norm in their lives. When states begin to mandate the who, what, where, when and why of teaching our children, we need to see that as a huge red flag. New York mandates detailed sex ed in schools California just passed SB48 which
mandates the teaching of a homosexual, bisexual and transgender curriculum in social studies class. We tried to repeal it, but we did not get enough signatures. Now it will be taught in grades K-12 beginning in January. California also passed AB499 which takes away parental rights and puts children as young as 12 in the position of being coerced into receiving a potentially life threatening vaccine.
Is there any state that supports moral based values and a parent’s right to let us opt out of curriculum that we do not agree with? What is going on in your state at the school and state level. Let us know so we are all aware. Join in today! http://tinyurl.com/3p88jnp
More Hot Topics ... A bill that would require the federal government to recognize homosexual marriages for federal purposes is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Thursday (Nov. 3). This hearing on S. 598 is the first step in an overall plan to try to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which currently defines marriage for all federal purposes as only the union of a man and a woman... This discussion featured because we need to save the family, it is the backbone of our nation. We have seen the systematic eroding of the family for years. Our own welfare system has damaged generations of families by making them dependent on the government rather than each other and rewarding single parenthood with more money. I recently was reading some information published years ago on how progressives could destroy the conservative agenda by destroying the family... Standing
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for the Family is not very popular. More than any other topic I have ever stood for it is the one most likely to get me called names. I applaud Sharon for her bravery for standing for it not only nationally but internationally as well. Picture the world with out families then choose where you stand. Standing for the Family does not mean you hate GLBT, it means you are defending a vanishing way of life... Join in the discussion today and contact your senators. More: http://tinyurl.com/3aw8lyk
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YYIn the Spotlight
RACHEL
PATRICIA J. MACDONALD
PJB
We are so happy and proud to shine our “Spotlight” on PJB, our Director of Groups. She believes that atmosphere in the home is very important. She grew up in a home in which politics, religion and events were discussed at the dinner table. Her parents discussed every candidate and talked about the history of the parties and movements. They seeded new churches so that people who moved away from the cities would have a place to worship. Her parents were active in a group called “World Neighbors” and often the founder and CEO, John Peters, was at their dinner table discussing the philosophy and mission statement “Each one, teach one” which defines and embodies the statement “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he provides for this family forever.” Her parents also allowed their children to succeed, and to fail. In high school, she studied comparative governments and how they relate to the Constitution and religious thought. She says, “We had lively discussions on the topics: if man is basi-
40 MinuteMom Magazine
cally good but sins, how much control should the Government have over him? Conversely, if man is perfect, does he need either God or Government? If man is tempted and falls to temptation, does this not also hold true for the men who Govern? What type of Governance would best protect the people, given these ideas?” They also talked often of Alinsky tactics and how they affect the governed. Because she has moved around with her husband’s company, she has worked in many different positions in the field of education. She taught preschool and elementary school in churches. She helped develop new church schools with strong educational programs, so parents could have the option of not going to public schools. She taught parenting skills to inner city recovering addicts, taught teens suspended from school or on parole for criminal behavior, and taught at an exclusive International School in Southeast Asia, which converted to the IB program. About As A Mom...she says, “I am with As A Mom as I feel this site
promotes the areas that have been so important to me throughout my life: values, education, personal development, governance and the strengthening of our members and the country. Moms here can teach and learn from other moms in an age where we are not as physically close to our own moms, grandmoms, aunts, and sisters.” PJ works tirelessly on the site. She works very hard to educate the “Moms” in her state about what is going on in Texas, starting first as a researcher, then Houston area leader, then becoming state chair of Texas. She is often in “Chat” for the fun and information sharing. PJ is now a Board Member, and as Director of Groups, she works with all the state leaders to train them to be the best they can be, and offers insight and encouragement to one and all. She is in a word, invaluable. We appreciate everything she does and we are blessed to have her as a member of the As A Mom... family. We congratulate PJ for being in the “Member Spotlight” this month!
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PJB / TX Director of Groups
RACHEL / KS We are so happy to shine on our “Spotlight on Rachel from Kansas this month. Rachel refers to herself as an “Army brat”. She spent over twelve years in the U.S. Military and working for the federal government as a civilian. She has lived and traveled all over the country and the world. She has two sons, Matthew (17) and Ryan (13). Matthew is a senior in high school and will be off to college next fall. Rachel stays busy being a very involved parent. She volunteers in the classroom, chaperone’s field trips, is involved in schooling and coaching, and attends all of the boys’ extracurricular activities. Rachel says her children are her entire world! She has always been very politicallyminded, but never spoke out publicly while in the military. Once she left
the military she “found her voice” and wanted to find a way to make a difference. She believes she has a responsibility to do so. Her children will either benefit from her efforts, or suffer the consequences if our efforts fail. She became a member of As A Mom... within a few days of seeing Lori, the President and Co-Founder on the Glenn Beck show. Rachel says, “I was so happy to find a place to become more involved with saving our country, educating others, discussing the issues facing our nation, and above all finding ways to get our country back on track”. Rachel became the Chairmom for the Kansas Moms group in February of this year. A couple of months ago she decided to help out with some of our leaderless groups, and has taken
on the leadership of Colorado Moms, Military Moms and the Retired Military/Veteran Moms groups. Rachel says, “I love AAM because it’s a great place to learn and discuss the issues facing our country with other like minded people. We all come from various walks of life and have varying opinions on the issues, but we have a common goal, and that is setting our country back on the right track”. Rachel is a very involved mother and member of As A Mom.... We are blessed to have such an active member here, who goes above and beyond the call of duty everyday. She is knowledgeable, helpful and just plain nice. We congratulate Rachel for being in the “Member Spotlight” this month!
PATRICIA J. MACDONALD / PA We are very happy to shine our “Spotlight” on Patricia J. MacDonald, from PA this month. In 2009 her husband of 50 years, went to Heaven to be with the Lord. He had been ill for a long time and Patricia settled into the role of caregiver. After he passed, she filled her lonely hours sending and receiving e-mails from friends and family. She also spent time doing research on her Mac. A friend encouraged her to Google a web site called “As A Mom..” and that is why she is here today. In the beginning she would “lurk” in chat and read what everyone was saying. She discovered that many “Moms” were seeking answers to their questions. The same questions were asked over and over again such as “Where can I find who represents me?”, “How do I register to vote?” and “Why are primaries important?”. Finally she went from lurker to chatter and began answering questions with facts the “Moms” could then find As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
for themselves, online. She wanted to be helpful and feels she was sent to As A Mom... to do just that, as her background permits. As a woman who believed in other women, organizations were the drivers in her life. Those organizations were Girl Scouts, Business and Professional Women, The League of Women Voters, and Phi Chi Theta and Zonta International. Her work in those groups went from local to national involvement and she is proud of all the work that was accomplished on her journey through them all. Along the way, she published a professional woman’s newspaper called, The Pittsburgh Woman and she says, “A grand journey it was”. She feels that sadly, too few women have had women in history to serve as role models. She has many because she read about those hidden heroines who continued to pursue their own goals and objectives throughout history. She says we can find our role model in one of a series in Notable American
Women available in most libraries. Patricia says, “In these troubling times, it is very important that Moms participate in government at the local level with knowledge, and to save our Constitutional Republic for ourselves and our posterity. Lori Parker and her team have supplied the voice needed to share the national dialogue on a timely basis. We must use that voice together to restore our Nation”. Or as her beloved, deceased husband would say to her, “What do you intend to do about it?” Patricia is a wonderful member of our As A Mom.. .family and we are so blessed to have her share her considerable knowledge with all of us. She is often in Chat answering questions or just being friendly and ever so kind to all those who happen to be there, too. She is a joy to us and we congratulate her for being in our “Member Spotlight” this month!
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YYPoem The Heart of God Mike asks me to sit with him. I can’t. There’s just so much to do. “Sit with me. Spend time. Enjoy being us,” he says. But he floors need to be swept. The dishes need to be done. How can I enjoy being “us”? “These are the good times, the times we were created for. Be still,” he says. I Love you. I will, after I take this last phone call. Then...he’s gone. I thought our life together would last forever. Plenty of time to sit. Am I wise enough to learn from this twist in my road? To see the beauty of the moments, the ones I have traditionally run past? I am. I will. I will enjoy the sunrise, and not worry what I have to do that day. The sunset, without fear of the night. I will enjoy the flower without the fear of its death. I will listen to the laughter of my children, without the thought of the mess they’ve made, or that they will grow up and leave. I will love the game, and not complain how hard it was to find parking. I will enjoy the company and not think of the dishes. I will love and cherish the person, not think about what they lack. It was then God said to me, “Now you really know my heart.”
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—Summer Tocco
42 MinuteMom Magazine
www.AsAMom.org
YYBe Involved Have A Local Meet-UP!!
On the SC NC boarder we found that it was difficult to get people to become comfortable with coming out to meet-ups at first. So we started a localmeet-up website in which we included information on 9-12, The Tea Party Patriots, the local GOP events along with Minute Mob and AAM events. Next we began holding actual meet-ups over coffee, with kids in tow. Since then, we’ve grown and developed. Moms, Mr. Moms and Momsat-Heart come together and encourage and support each other in this group. Sometimes it seems that other than here at As A Mom..., we are surrounded by naysayers and liberals that make it difficult to share. With local meet-ups even once a month, it’s such a treat to share our experiences, fears and ideas, then go away feeling much less alone.
In our area we have adopted a local children’s home for our Minute Mob and charity events. What a blessing to be able to help. We have all become attached to the kids there and have grown closer in doing so. It has also been fun to bring the kids and do things that they enjoy and learn from. We have had a Constitution Class, which brought out the 9-12 and GOP along with the Tea Party groups so we could not only learn together, but recruit for AAM. And we are now planning an “Agenda 21” class with an educator/speaker for next month. We include the “Glenn Beck Challenge” as part of our meetings. And last month, Jeram4USA led us through the “Courage Challenge” where we exchanged book ideas and stories about courage. What a great opportunity for all of us!
If you are in the SC/NC area near Rock Hill, SC and Charlotte, NC, please be sure to check our state group pages at http://tinyurl.com/6yfqv2e and http://tinyurl.com/6efslet. We will keep you informed and we’d love to have you join us. And if you’re somewhere else in the country, think about starting your own meet-up. It doesn’t cost anything and the blessings are enormous! —Elizabeth Langford, NC-ChaiMom & MamaCapps Asst Dir. Of Groups
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As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
November 2011 43
YYSisterhood What started as an effort to support a friend in her mission to become healthier, evolved into a mini- As A Mom... reunion in Boston this October. We travelled from Minnesota, New York, Virginia, and of course Massachusetts ready to hug, laugh, commiserate, and of course learn as we walked the Freedom Trail and toured around historic Boston. We managed to travel in safely from our homes, and soon we were gathered around the dinner table at the hotel restaurant regaling each other with stories of our families, memories of our last gathering at 8-28 in DC, giggling like girls, and sharing concerns about our country! Our conversation varied smoothly from Presidential candidates to child-raising difficulties, from parenting triumphs to emergency preparation challenges. Although we are in almost daily contact with each other thru the As A Mom... site, we haven’t seen each other since last year, but just like true kindred spirits, we all picked right back up again as if we had never been apart! Our common bond of devotion to our Faith, Family and Country made us a true sisterhood. The next morning we travelled to the State House wearing our red As A Mom... Molly Pitcher t-shirts, and met up with the rest of our history enthusiasts at the Fox News station. From there, we travelled the few steps to the start of the Freedom Trail walk. Our guide (who instantly recognized Molly on our shirts) portrayed “Bully” Jim Denton, an apprentice in Boston during the time of the Intolerable Acts, Tea Party, and Boston Massacre. As a part of his indentured servitude, his master required him to learn to read and write, with his writing lessons taking the form of letters home to his mother—thereby leaving a valuable first hand account of history for all future generations. His letters are still on display in his hometown outside of Boston. 44 MinuteMom Magazine
Our tour started on the Boston Common which was originally a cow grazing field for the Puritans. We learned how the Puritans came to own the field, and how the carpenter who built the original stockades was the first person to be locked up in them! The original site of those stockades is now a children’s playground. We then meandered up to Beacon Hill and the State House. Bully Jim explained that when it came time to expand the original State House, the builders had to destroy the family home of Founding Father John Hancock in order to make room for the new wings. The irony of an expanding government destroying the foundations of a Founding Father’s home was not lost on us! From here, we walked to the third oldest cemetery where once the bulls of the Puritans grazed, but is now the final resting place of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, Ben Franklin’s parents, and even Mother Goose. As we walked,
Bully Jim brilliantly wove history in with his narration, and highlighted the amazing similarities to some of today’s political unrest. There was no question we could ask that he was not able to answer with yet another fascinating aspect of our already amazing history! The fact that he was speaking in the first person, and with original letters as his source helped us to remember that these events are more than words on history books. After a brief break at the Parker Omni hotel, we travelled to the Town Hall Meeting building where Sam Adams originally gave the speech that ultimately resulted in the famous Boston Tea Party. Once again Bully Jim gave us great insight into the details of the issues of the times, and made even more clear why the Patriots had to act—the British government was purposefully and willfully attacking our economy and livelihood. Our final stops were the sight of the Boston Massacre itself, www.AsAMom.org
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Moms meet in Boston
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outside of the Old State House (built in 1713, it is the only original building left in Boston). At one point, there were plans to move the structure to Chicago, but after the citizens of Boston protested, it was determined the landmark would forever remain where it is. The original Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony of the State House, and every 4th of July, it is read again. At our final stop outside of Faneuil Hall, our interpreter revealed that he himself is directly related to the historical Jim Denton that he portrays. Interpreter Jim Denton is a great grandnephew of the author of the letters that described so vividly the historical events of those years, and is the 11th person in his family to carry that honored name. After a lunch break, our group strolled thru Quincy Market and found souveniers for our day, then enjoyed a ferry ride tour of Boston Harbor. A day that had been cool and cloudy, suddenly As a Mom... A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots®
turned to blue skies and sunshine as we looped around the Harbor and past the USS Constitution. Upon disembarking, we completed our guided tour by hopping onto our trolley tour hosted and narrated by the brilliant “Vacation Vinny” whose comedy was as impressive as the history he shared! Through breathtaking laughter, we learned how incredibly busy a man Paul Revere was (2 wives, 16 grandchildren, and a multitude of trades and business—including a dental practice!), how the USS Constitution got the nickname ‘old Ironsides’, and how you don’t have to walk directly ON the Freedom Trail’s famous red line in order to get full credit for the walk! Our day ended with more laughter, jokes, and camaraderie at dinner on the Harbor. Though our entire weekend together was all too brief, it solidified our bond as a true Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots. We were free to discuss our history, our present day situations and concerns, and ways that we
can be more active and effective in our communities. We voiced our fears, our triumphs, and of course, our appreciation to have had a place like As A Mom... to bring us all together. As we hugged each other goodbye before heading our separate ways home on Sunday, we all vowed to reunite again next year, and we sincerely hope you’ll join us when we do!! —Erin Williams, director of Membership
November 2011 45
How Taking Personal Responsibility Saved the Pilgrims
When the Pilgrims first settled Plymouth, all the food they grew was placed in a common store from which everyone ate. There was never enough food and they often went hungry. In the third year, the leaders came up with a new plan and they never went hungry again. What do you think that plan was? Find out if you are right:
In their third year, the Pilgrims at Plymouth were again in great want and saw that long before the new harvest, bread would be entirely gone. Governor Bradford summoned a council of important men and told them how serious the situation was. “We came over here,” he said, “in debt to the merchants who loaned us the money for our tools and expenses. We agreed to work and live in common for seven years so that we might pay the debt.” “What has been the result? The lazy do not work because they know that their food depends upon the common store and that we shall not be cruel enough to deprive them of their food
because they do not work. The diligent, therefore, must work hard enough to provide for the lazy as well as for themselves. Besides, the women and children grumble at working in the fields, and the fathers have felt, quite naturally, that they did not wish their wives and children to work in order to support the slackers.” “The trouble ,” said Winslow, “lies with the system itself; with the common stock, the agreement to put all of what we raise and own into one store from which everyone shall be supplied and fed.” “I agree with you,” said Bradford “And I!” “And I!” came from various voices around him. “There is a solution,” declared Bradford, “and only one. We must stop working the land together. Each man shall have as many acres as it seems possible he can plant and tend. He shall then have whatever he can raise on it for himself and his family and no one else shall be fed from it. The lazy will also be given fields and they shall understand that if they do not work they will not eat.” “Yes,” said Mr. Allerton, “I am sure that will please many. The women and children will then be able to work on their own fields. We shall not only find that those who are now lazy will work, when they are afraid that they will otherwise have no food, but we shall also get work from many people who now do not do any for other and better reasons.” So the land was divided, each family getting a large piece, and each single man getting as much as he could till. And they all worked very much harder than they ever had before and saw clearly that this was a good solution. The moment they devoted all of their attention to raising food they saw that they would raise enough. —Marlene Peterson
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