#suckit

Detroit Won the Super Bowl…Unless You’re a Jerk

February 5, 2012 by Queen of Spain 7 Comments

Who knew pulling together to get our country back to work could cause so much arguing?

Things I heard tonight after Chrysler ran it’s ‘Imported From Detroit’ commercial during the Super Bowl:

It was an Obama ad.

They are owned by Italians who hate Americans.

They are owned by foreigners who called paying back the ‘bailout’ rude.

It’s halftime for Obama, not America.

Clint Eastwood isn’t a real Republican, he’s RINO who likes the gays.

It was an Obama ad.

Personally, I don’t really care which side of the aisle you are on, if you are rooting for Detroit to fail, for the auto industry to fail, for people to lose more jobs, for Americans to be out of work, or for Americans to NOT pull together to make our country great again…then you can #suckit.

Filed Under: #suckit

Of Dogs & GOP Compassion

January 8, 2012 by Queen of Spain 14 Comments

It’s no secret I’m not a fan of any of the GOP candidates for president and I will be working hard to re-elect President Obama. But there is something really, really bothering me about Mitt Romney, and I can’t shake it from my head.

I heard it as a rumor at first, dismissing it like I dismiss so many things during election season…but then it came into the main stream media: Romney strapped his Irish Setter to the roof of his car in 1983 and drove all the way to Canada on a family trip. Seamus was so scared he pooped out of fear.

I realize we all treat dogs differently in our very different families. Some are used for hunting. Others are always kept outside. But in my family, the dogs are PART of the family. They sleep in our beds and eat our food and certainly ride INSIDE the car when going somewhere. I know some state’s have laws about strapping your dogs to the back bed of your pickup truck. I know some people think these are ‘just animals’ that can handle the outdoors or whatever…but Romney put the family dog ON THE ROOF OF HIS CAR AND DROVE AND DROVE even telling his kids they were stopping for gas and that was it.

Apparently I’m supposed to feel better Romney built a ‘windshield’ so Seamus wasn’t smacked by the 65 mile an hour drive winds. Apparently I’m supposed to feel better that this compassionate family man didn’t really give a crap that his dog was in a carrier, on the top of the family station wagon, while the family was warm and cozy inside the car.

Any man like that has told me more about his character in one family vacation, than I ever need to know. Forget telling me about his policy, his stance on issues, his ability to govern. He’s the kind of man who thinks so much of the family dog to make the Irish Setter luggage on top of his roof rack. His dog was nothing more than LUGGAGE.

Yeah. He’s that kind of guy.

As a mother who cares about family matters like health care, education, family leave, etc. I am happy to get into it issue by issue, candidate by candidate…however Romney’s family man bravado and fatherly decisions tell me more about him than any debate, campaign slogan, or press release ever will.

He’s that Dad, and there is no way I want him in the White House or any other house in my neighborhood or country.

Our family dog Nicky…who I would bet wouldn’t be allowed in Mitt’s couch like he is on ours.

I hope Nicky’s type of dog life is way more common than Seamus’. Because any family pet deserves better than being treated as luggage by the patriarch who is clearly lacking a heart…and possibly any common sense.

Filed Under: #suckit, Obama2012, Stepford Crazies

School Photos: Step Away From the Matching Sibling Sweaters

November 12, 2011 by Queen of Spain 25 Comments

Apparently I am a horrible mother for allowing my children not only to choose what they wear for their school photos, but to also let them choose the background for said photos.

Some of those Martha Stewart type Moms aren’t impressed. They’ve declared my husband and I those ‘weird California’ types and then discussed how they/theirdaugherorson/theirgrandchild/theirchildren would have clothes laid out for them the night before and their hair done exactly as they would deem fit (ouch, tight pig tails HURT) for school photo day.

Afterall, these are children. We can’t trust them to dress themselves for something this important. I mean, they would wear their Halloween costume or their PJ shirt with a tutu bottom.

This is important Erin, every family member will have these photos on their mantle or fridge. Don’t you want them to look…you know…normal?

No, we want them to look like themselves. Like they do every day. With their creative flare and their comfort showing. We want them to look and be who they are– not who we want the world to think they are.

We want them to express themselves and know they should feel pride for picking out what makes them…THEM. Not some watered down, matching, scratchy, uncomfy, looked like they stepped out of some catalog version of them their own parents wouldn’t even recognize.

So behold my amazing, creative, and awesomely dressed children:

May they, and their family, remember and respect what they were like in the 1st and 3rd grade and may they also learn to lighten up a bit. It’s a school photo, not some contest to see whose kid can show up looking the cleanest.

But if there happened to be an award for originality, comfort, and bad-assery…my kids just kicked your kid’s ass.

Filed Under: #suckit, Stepford Crazies

99% Has Heart…While the 53% Yells ‘ANDY YOU GOONIE!’

October 12, 2011 by Queen of Spain 10 Comments

I just do not understand.

If protesters are mad at the government, they are called ‘patriots’ – yet if protesters are mad at Wall Street they are called ‘whiners.’

If people express their fears and doubt and anger over their debt, and lack of employment, and inability to survive in this economy they are mocked by conservatives and made fun of by pundits and bloggers and citizens acting as though they are so much better off.

As it turns out, they aren’t better off, they just feel no need to express their frustration with their situation. Good for them. Way to keep it in. Way to suck it up and take your economic beating in silence. I’m so very glad our country allows us all to voice our opinions in our own way.

But what I can’t take, as I watch protester after protester spill their hearts and lives onto the internet, or a written page, or a video, or to a member of the media…is the snickering and laughter and childish behavior from some conservatives who, apparently, find people’s hard times funny.

Aren’t these the same people who mocked liberals for being educated? Calling us ‘elitists’ and ‘latte sipping snobs?’ And here they are, pointing and laughing again like schoolyard bullies.

Grown men and women on blogs, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC and local news actually giggling and rolling their eyes at homeless veterans, college students strapped with debt, homeowners underwater, cancer patients without health care, and senior citizens working well into their 80’s in order to afford food.

You do not have to agree with Occupy Wall Street. You do not have to support unions, or Democrats, or raising the tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to the rates of President Reagan…but you should, at the very least, respect your fellow Americans as they suffer.

I have never been more ashamed of my fellow countrymen and women than I am right now. I have never been more disgusted with the state of politics in our great nation than I am right now. And that’s saying something.

Just keep in mind the more you laugh, the harder I will fight to re-elect President Obama. The more you mock, the harder I will work to make sure programs like Welfare and Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid will remain and thrive. And the more you name call (‘whiners’ ‘losers’ ‘hippies’ ‘bums’ ‘lazy’) the more I will make sure the 99% is louder, stronger, better educated, and given a bigger platform to make their point and to make a difference.

Contrary to what you might think, no one is looking for a hand out, or to take your hard earned money. We want to work hard all on our own, but we also want to make sure those who can’t work are taken care of too. Those who need help, GET IT and those who are suffering receive some relief.

I have had enough of your snark and your laughter, be a real American and pitch in. Your country needs you and it’s time to either stand up and help, or sit on the sidelines and mock those less fortunate. So far all I have seen is your ability to mock…but the last I checked, snark didn’t solve an economic crisis. Pointing and laughing at the poor kid didn’t feed him or his sister. And your frat-boy behavior certainly didn’t change the old boy’s club where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Unfortunately this isn’t a John Hughes film where the douchebag rich kid got punched in the nose and the nerd rides off into the sunset with the girl. It’s real life where most of us are one medical disaster, one big accident, one layoff, or one paycheck away from disaster.

So what’s it going to be? Are you going to attempt to listen to the 99% with compassion and offer solutions and ideas and open arms…or are you going to pop the collar on your iZod, punch your buddy in the arm while you snidely laugh at those ‘bums’ who should just ‘get a job’ while you ride off in your red convertible?

I could tell you how the story usually ends, but I get the feeling you already know. Let’s just hope that just this once, Hollywood and real life actually turn out that happy ending.

Filed Under: #suckit

Relief

October 7, 2011 by Queen of Spain 23 Comments

I sobbed on my husband’s shoulder begging for relief…

when. when will we catch a break? it all has to stop. it just has to stop. now. i can’t take this any more. it’s not fair. when will it stop?

It may have been one of my worst moments dealing with the news that one of my most beloved Aunts has been moved to hospice and it’s only a matter of time.

I got the kids to school and went immediately to see my doctor and was told I am not healthy enough to travel. So when the time comes, I can’t be there. I can’t be with my family who needs me and I can’t say good bye. I can’t read at her funeral like she read at my wedding and I am so very tired of all the ‘can’ts’ in my life.

I have spent 48 hours keeping myself in check while the kids are looking, so I don’t scare them anymore with my tears. I have told them and my husband and my brother and my cousins just how much I love them over and over because I am so very tired of losing people that mean so very much and I refuse the miss out on letting those I love KNOW that I love them.

I have thought about how to best pay my respects to my Aunt who did nothing but give herself, her life, to everyone else. She was there for me always. She was my sponsor for my confirmation. She never missed a birthday or a holiday or any of my surgeries with a card or a pair of pjs or even some flowers. We had this love of sunflowers together. And we’d send them to each other whenever we could.

When the time comes I am in charge of making sure there are sunflowers at her funeral. From me. It’s a task I dread and yet will do with love. For her. Because it’s all I can do.

My kids didn’t get nearly enough time with her. They knew she always sent ornaments at Christmas and gifts for their birthdays. They remember the summer in Michigan fishing off the docks. They know her from our wedding photos, and how she was so nervous reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning for me. But she did it, for me.

My other Aunt held the cell phone to her ear for me the other night and I rambled off as much as I could when you only have a few moments to say everything you’d like to say over a lifetime. I told her I loved her. But I also begged her to fight. And then I eventually told her I would see her soon.

I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye.

For as long as I can remember she was one of the remaining relatives who went to Mass every Sunday. So I did the only thing I knew to do and packed up the kids and headed to our local church to light a candle for her. And the doors were locked. The church doors were locked.

I was so angry the doors of a church were locked when I needed to light that candle. I had to light that candle. Didn’t they know my Aunt was dying? Didn’t they understand that lighting a candle was all I could do? Who locks church doors? Shouldn’t they be open so people can pray whenever they need to pray? Or light a candle to Mary or any other Saint they choose?

I can’t believe that not only am I unable to get on a plane to be with my family in Detroit, but I can’t even manage to light a candle. Failure thy name is Erin.

Just this once, I am asking the universe for a break. Let her pass without suffering. Let her be at peace. And please let my family be comforted. She was a selfless woman, who deserves that much. And my family has been through enough.

I love you Aunt Georgiann.

Filed Under: #suckit, #SUCKITLupus, Feeling YaYa, Holding Court, Queenie Backup, Royal Kinfolk, Stepford Crazies

I Still Have The First Lady’s Back…Do YOU?

September 15, 2011 by Queen of Spain 24 Comments

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years and in 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.

Because of this and many more reasons, First Lady Michelle Obama has initiated several programs to help America’s kids.

Let’s Move! is a “comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let’s Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years. Giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods in our schools. Ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable food. And, helping kids become more physically active.”

Seems fairly reasonable, right?

Well apparently this is anything but reasonable to the right-wing blogosphere, that exploded today upon the news the First Lady and Darden restaurants were working together to change kid’s menus and make food healthier at their places of business.

In just this one blog post by the Daily Caller, Mrs. Obama was called ‘the first hoe,’ ‘moooshell,’ and there were numerous references to her ‘fat ass’ as well as allegations she was trying to take away everyone’s french fries.

Then over on twitter there were numerous entries calling her various other names as well as accusing her of attempting to be the country’s food police.

Apparently attempting to help the children of this country makes conservatives angry.

Way back in 2007 I made a promise to Mrs. Obama. In a two-page spread in the Chicago Sun Times I told her that if she would support her husband running for President, we Moms would have her back.

Little did I know how exhausting that promise would be.

Our nation’s First Lady has been attacked for everything from her clothing to her bi-partisan initiatives. She has been called every name in the book and then some, and has endured some of the most ugly racial comments I have ever seen. And her attempts at getting kids to exercise and eat healthy have been no exception.

It seems that no matter if she is helping military families or children, she is the target of some of the most hateful rhetoric I have ever witnessed.

It’s time we Moms, women, and men, stepped up our defense of Mrs. Obama and her projects.

For the record (and I’ll try to be as clear as possible for the idiots in the crowd) the First Lady isn’t trying to take away your junk food. Her agreement with restaurants like Olive Garden and Red Lobster is putting more options on the kids menu, not taking them away. You can still get your child a sugar and fat laden soda and fries, but you will also have the option for something like a fruit or vegetable.

There is no mandate to get rid of things like burgers or fried chicken or Cokes, just the addition of healthy choices.

The First Lady has never said you should never have junk food, ever. She has consistently and clearly said even she loves the occasional hamburger or piece of cake…but in moderation. She lets her girls have the occasional fry and chips and cookies…but in moderation and as part of a healthy, nutrition based meal.

She is not attempting to force you to feed your kids nothing but broccoli. She is not attempting to take your favorite, fat-filled food off the local fast-food menu.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at the programs yourself. This comes directly from the White House press office:

Kids’ Menus – changes starting now and to be fully implemented by July 2012
· Guarantee a fruit or vegetable will be the default side for every kids’ menu item at those restaurants offering a default side on the children’s menu: Bahama Breeze, LongHorn Steakhouse and Red Lobster.
· 1% milk will be the default beverage, provided automatically if no alternate beverage is requested. Milk will be prominently promoted on the menu and made available with free refills.
· Food illustrations on the menu will promote the healthy choices for meals and drinks.
· Healthier menu options will be more prominently displayed when possible.
· Carbonated beverages will not be displayed on children’s menus.
· Improve the nutritional content of one or more children’s menu items to provide equal or less than 600 calories, 30% of total calories from fat, 10% of total calories from saturated fat and 600 mg of sodium.

Calories/Sodium Footprint Reduction – changes to be implemented by 2016 and 2021
· By 2016, reduce calories by 10% and over a ten-year period by 20%.
· By 2016, reduce sodium by 10% and over a ten-year period by 20%.

See? There is no taking away your fries. You, as the parent, get every opportunity to do exactly as you want with your kids and can make any decision you damn well please as to what lands on their plate. Want pop? Order it. Want DOUBLE the fries for your kid? Go for it. Mrs. Obama hasn’t taken any parenting decisions out of your hands and is certainly not trying to parent for you.

Now that we’ve cleared that up…I have a few questions for you. Why in God’s name would you be against this? Why do you have issues with a program attempting to give you more menu choices for your kids and offering additional, healthy options?

Do you hate fruits and veggies? Are you a fan of childhood obesity? Do you want only junk food offered to your children?

Or do you just hate the Obamas and everything they try to do, good or bad? Or is it even worse than that…do you hate a smart, beautiful, strong black woman telling you how you can help raise healthy children?

I look forward to your answers, because right now all I see is ignorance, hate, and sheer contempt for a woman who is rocking her role as First Lady…and you had better believe I still have her back.

Filed Under: #suckit, Feeling YaYa, Stepford Crazies

Dear DC, This Mom Is NOT Impressed

September 7, 2011 by Queen of Spain 19 Comments

I am really ready to declare all of Washington incompetent.

I know, I know, this sounds like everyone…and anyone right now. However the current state of affairs has me more frustrated than any Mother really should be about politics. It has been said many times before, but I must say it again: these politicians are acting worse than my children.

And instead of me making cutesy comments about giving them all a ‘time out’ or telling them to ‘play nice’ I’m going to speak with a bit more adult directness:

Enough already.

I’m not impressed that our President’s love for America was questioned on a national stage by Republican candidates for office during tonight’s debate. This is not a time to pander to the lunatics and fringe of the country, this is a time for solutions to very serious problems. Calling into question if our PRESIDENT is pro-American is not only ridiculous, but a time waster in this day and age.

I am also not impressed that some Democrats might sit with some Republicans at the President’s job’s speech. Are you kidding me? This is the best bi-partisan move you can come up with? My daughter’s 1st grade can manage to sit boy, girl, boy, girl without tantrums and you’re proud you can sit with someone from across the aisle? Whoopdefuckingdo.

It really is no wonder we can’t seem to pull ourselves out of this economic crisis and get the country moving again. You all are throwing insults back and forth and getting giddy when you sit together. I’m sorry but I expect better from adults tapped to lead this nation.

Speaking of which…this whole ‘attack on science’ nonsense that is going on needs to stop. If only to show the children of the country that our adults are not babbling idiots. If you want to attack how best to deal with what scientists discover, have at it. But attacking science is beyond the pale. And has me more worried about the state of the US than anything else.

We have become a people who demonize teachers, teamsters, scientists, academics, and even first responders. We have sunk to making fun of the President because he gets too wonky, and rail against educators because they dare ask to be compensated for taking care of our most precious resource.

The poor have become mockable as ‘Get a job!’ echos throughout townhalls. The sick and disabled shunned and left for dead, their ailments considered a sign from God in the survival of the fittest.

And in Washington, DC these topics of discussion might as well be the same as what happens when your family gets together for the holidays; with no one agreeing and your crazy uncle making veiled racist and sexist jokes while carving the turkey.

The thing is…Congress and these Governors aren’t supposed to be like my family gatherings or a townhall. They are supposed to be a bit better than that. Knowing some of their constituents might be a little off their rockers, and making sure they are sane and at the very least leaning towards the middle- so that everyone has a voice.

No. Instead I have to explain to my six-year old and eight-year old why the man on the tv hates the leader of our nation so very much. And why the woman on the tv hates gays and lesbians and transgendered people. Even they pick up on the not-so-subtle bigotry behind their nasty words, dripping with a polite tone.

I shouldn’t have to tell my kids that some people think others do not deserve to have the same rights, and I sure as hell shouldn’t have to explain to my kids why some people think their mother doesn’t deserve the benefits she receive to feed and clothe them. Or have to tell them that when the big earthquake hits our California home, some of these people on stage don’t want to send us help.

It is no longer a matter of wanting to put these politicians in a time out, they needs to be expelled from playing. I am embarrassed at the state of discourse and political policy in this country and disgusted at how far we have sunk.

I am not without fault. My anger at how ridiculous this has all become bubbles over frequently, pushing me to lash out at the uneducated and at the conservatives I encounter.

How dare they. How could they. How stupid are they.

When science and reason fall under attack, my manners escape me quicker than I’d like.

I wish I felt some remorse, or that I could tell my kids I am sorry. Instead I find myself telling them that Mommy needs to fight harder for them. Yell louder. Demand more. Demand better.

I hope I am teaching them that some things you just don’t tolerate. You stand up for the poor. You stand up for the sick. You stand up for those being denied basic rights.

You do not settle on these issues. There is no compromise for common decency and common sense.

I also expect others, in Washington, to do the same. It is time to say enough.

This has gone far enough.

Filed Under: #suckit, Holding Court, Stepford Crazies

Maybe She Will Be the Next Wil Wheaton

May 17, 2011 by Queen of Spain 13 Comments

My heart dropped in my stomach. My mind began to race with a million excuses. Beads of sweat started to appear on my forehead.

Mom, I think I want to be in the school play. I want to be an actress.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Also.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ok maybe I am over reacting. My daughter simply wants to try out for a part as a fairy in A Midsummer’s Night Dream at her school.

It was the ‘actress’ part that got me. Combine this with her ‘let’s go visit HOLLYWOOD’ mantra and I was ready to go hang myself.

Maybe it’s because we live in Los Angeles and I see a lot of stage moms around here. Maybe it’s because I can only think of like ONE child actor that is normal...Wil Wheaton. Does he count? He does, right?

All I know is my daughter wants to do something and I want to talk her out of it. But I know I shouldn’t and I know I can’t. I shouldn’t because if she truly wants to do this, I don’t want to stand in the way. I can’t because…well…she’s my daughter…she’ll find a way and accept her Oscar with ‘And my MOM said I COULDN’T! SUCK IT MOMMY!’

So what do I do? I tell her…

Ok honey, if you want to, we can go to try outs tomorrow.

Wish me luck. I feel sick.

Well, sicker than usual.

Filed Under: #suckit, Princess Peanut