Even parenting decisions become political when the First Family is involved. There’s a story out today on the Obama girl’s internet use...a topic, given my profession, we discuss often in this house.
Mrs. Obama tells CNN en Espanol (ehs-puhn-YOHL’) that she and President Barack Obama limit the use of computers for their daughters, Sasha and Malia, and ask the girls a lot of questions when they’re on line.
“We ask a lot of questions about what our kids are doing while they are on the computer,” she explained.
Mrs. Obama said she and the president talk with their daughters about the dangers of Facebook, and “that sort of gossip mill.”
The first lady says that more schools are helpful in educating parents as well as children on the pros, cons and dangers of the Internet.
Mrs. Obama tells that when she was growing up, the Internet didn’t exist. She called her friends on the phone.
Sounds like some of my girlfriends. Sounds like my own mother. Sounds a lot like many of the conversations I have with the parents of my son and daughter’s friends.
But instead of having a typical conversation about parenting and family and politics, I found myself discussing the issue on Twitter with conservatives calling into question the First Lady’s “fear” of the internet. Words like “unhealthy” and “silly” were used.
I shook my head at the lack of sense this was making. Are conservatives seriously calling into question parenting skills that embrace personal responsibility and age appropriate use of the web? Are you kidding me?
Then I realized, with the help of my husband, it doesn’t matter what this First Family does. It could fall directly in line with how a conservative family would raise their family… it would still be wrong.
A new study out shows those most vocal against the President and this administration seep their anger in class and race.
A new CBS News/New York Times poll found the Tea Party movement is 89 percent white and just one percent black.
It also looked at the views of Tea Party supporters on race issues. Asked if too much has been made of the problems facing African-Americans, 52 percent said yes.
That compares to 28 percent of Americans overall who say too much has been made of the problems facing blacks, and 23 percent of non-Tea Party whites who say as much.
Now ask yourself again, why would conservatives have an issue with parents monitoring and regulating their children’s internet use? Easy…because it’s something the Obama’s do, which to them must automatically be bad.
Sad. Simple-minded. And dead wrong.
