Shawna R. B. Atteberry

I was wondering when a statement would come out from people of faith who do the hard work of community organization about Palin’s putdown. This is from FaithWorld:

“Contrary to Palin’s disparaging remarks, organizers have major responsibilities for creating policy changes. Feeding the hungry and housing the homeless are clearly responsibilities of people of faith. We do that by providing food and shelter and more importantly, by organizing to address the causes of injustice and inequity which lead to hunger and homelessness,” said Kim Bobo, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice, a congregation-based community organization in Chicago.

Bobo was quoted in a statement issued by several faith-based community organizations that bristled at the remarks by Palin, who has revved up other people of faith–the conservative Christians who comprise the Republican Party’s key base.

A commentator at MudFlats perfectly sums up the difference between community organziers and people like Gov. Palin: “Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a Govenor.” She’s definitely acting more like Pilate than Christ.

I watched the Palin speech. I kept wondering when she was actually going to say something. This morning I found out why I didn’t hear anything when I visited Chicago Carless. I never heard what she was really saying. Mike did. Sarah Palin’s Inner Acceptace Speech is his translation of Palin’s speech into what her inner voice was really saying. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Palin: “Two decades and five children later, Todd’s still my guy.”
Inner Voice: “Damm, 1, 2, 3, 4, oh ok, 5.”

Palin: “I grew up with those people.”
Inner Voice: “I want to get out of Alaska for a reason.”

Palin: “I got rid of a few things I didn’t think our citizens should have to pay for.”
Inner Voice: “Condoms and family planning brochures.”

Palin: “John McCain, the kind of name you find on war memorials.”
Inner Voice: “And probably a headstone before 2012.”

Palin: “For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.”
Inner Voice: “If he dies in office, does that make me Queen?”

I was disgusted with most of this speech because of the way she personally attacked Obama and trivialized his career after he was very civil about her daughter’s pregnancy. Ogre at Street Prophets said what I was thinking:

No shame.  Obama came out and defended her and her daughter–directly attacked those who were jumping up and down on Bristol’s being pregnant and went so far as to bring out his own mother’s pregnancy at 18 to cover for her (giving her cover behind his own mother).  Sarah Palin’s reaction?  Vicious personal attacks on Obama, belittling his service, distorting his record.  The woman has no class–the stories of her ruthless climb to the governor’s office in AK sound plausible now.

Lie after distortion.  Grotesque.

But not that badly delivered.  However… I think she made two serious errors.  The first was failing to “take control” at the very beginning.  ”Ready to lead?”  Well… she let the crowd lead there–she’d have stepped on the applause for her (but applause that was utterly content-free, just rah-rah…) but would have shown a degree of I’m in control and I have things to say that she ended up giving away–it ended up feeling like “You really, really like me!”  The second error was in the lengthy introduction of her family.  Just noting that they’re here, naming them, affirming them… would have been enough.  (And they hauled Levi in to be there with Bristol, but didn’t acknowledge him… even though he was on camera over and over.  Odd, that.)

Net effect: She threw away any claim to “don’t pick on me, I’m a girl!” that the campaign’s been waving around.  Having come out as a pitbull with lipstick (her image, and self-claimed…), AND having unleashed all kinds of attacks on Obama and Biden and sneered at Michelle Obama… she’s fair game, politically.

I absolutely agree. And the pundits better go after her the same way they did Hillary. As Russell likes to say over at The Street: Liberal Media my a$$. I’ve also been saying all week that if it was Obama or Biden’s 17 year old daughter that wound up pregnant, the Republicans would be tearing them apart. “Loose morals!” “No family values!” The GOP sure wouldn’t show them the same courtesy the Democrats have shown Palin. They proved last night my hypthesis was right.

The least McCain could have done was pick a woman who had years of experience and is qualified to take over as president if he keels over six months into the job. Senator Kay Bailey Huthison is one of many Republican women that comes to mind. Hopefully, this time, cow-towing to The Relgious Reich, uh, I mean Right, will cost them this election. Speeking of The Religous Right, I love James Dobson’s “flip flop.” That’s right the man who wasn’t going to vote if McCain was the Republican nominee has now endorsed him: Dr. Dobson: “If I went into the polling both today, I’d pull the lever for John McCain.” Once again affirming that he’s a Republican first and a Christian second. I can’t wait to count how many times Daddy Dobson accuses Obama of “flip-flopping” from now until the election. He’s looked like a fish out of water gasping for his last breath over McCain, so it should be fun to watch.

And yes, I will put this disclaimer: I am voting for Obama/Biden.

The photo is from MSNBC.com.

On August 8, 2008 Amy Krouse Rosenthal invited people to come make an 18th lovely thing with her after posting 17 beautiful things she had made. She told them to meet her at The Bean in Millenium Park at 8:08 p.m. Over a thousand people showed up. The film of what they did that evening can be found here (I have yet to figure out how to embed video). She and her friend, Steve Delahoyde decided to make a film of lovely things that we have made, and they are accepting submissions at Amy’s website. They literally want you to submit something you have created that you think is lovely: fim, art, poem, stories, dramas, music, photographs, and journal entries, to name a few.

I am going to submit my poem, “I Want These Things Written on My Body.”

What lovely creation can you submit?

Hat tip to Gapers Block.

Singing Owl says, This is a Friday Five about LABOR. All can play. Put down that hammer, that spoon, that rolling pin, that rake, that pen, that commentary, that lexicon, and let’s have some fun.

1. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.

Working at the call center for The Disney Catalog. I have repressed most of the memories and refuse to dig them out of the dark hole they are in.

2. Tell us about the best job you ever had.

I’ve had two: writing and pastoring. Right now I’m just writing, but there are ample opportunities to serve at my church, and they do have lay pastors and preachers.

3. Tell us what you would do if you could do absolutely anything (employment related) with no financial or other restrictions.

I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to do what I want to do. I’ve always wanted to be a full-time writer, and I have been for the last two years. Woot!

4. Did you get a break from labor this summer? If so, what was it and if not, what are you gonna do about it?

Yes, I took mini-breaks here and there, exploring Chicago and getting together with friends. My mom was also up earlier this month, and we had a lot of fun.

5. What will change regarding your work as summer morphs into fall? Are you anticipating or dreading?

I’m anticipating it. Fall is my favorite time of year, and my creativity soars. I should get lots of writing done. Plus I will be working on my novel, and I know Fall will give me all sorts of wonderful creativity for that.

I’ve never been a great housekeeper. Normally I’m barely a passable housekeeper. I watched my mom work all day then come home and clean and clean and clean. I decided that I was not going to do that. (I made it very clear to my husband before we married that I would not be doing all the housework.) Housework was not that important. It didn’t help that for the last two years I’ve struck out as a freelance writer and do a lot of work from home, where a lot of the time I feel like a glorified housewife. But lately my feelings have been changing, and I have been wanting a cleaner house and less piles. I’ve always been a pile person, and it used to not bother me. But now it’s getting cumbersome and tiresome. I think it’s because I’m getting older, and I just don’t have the energy to dig through piles to find one piece of paper or a book. Plus I really do like being able to see the top of my coffee table and not have to crawl over a pile of books to get into bed.

Of course this put me into a crisis mode. After all I’m a feminist. I’m a feminist who came out of the group of Christians who think the highest calling for a woman is to be a wife, mother, and yes, housewife. So for me to admit that keeping house wasn’t that bad (and might even better), was nothing short of an existential crisis. And before you start gloating, Mom, I’m still not going to clean like you do. I still think you cleaned far too much. There has to be a happy medium between piles and dust and spotless clean. Then an online friend, k8tthleate introduced to me a wonderful book: Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson.  The book begins with these words:

I am a working woman with a secret life: I keep house. An off-and-on lawyer and professor in public, in private I launder and clean, cook from the hip, and devote serious time and energy to a domestic routine not so different from the one that defined my grandmothers as “housewives.”

I think what I like most about Mendelson is her emphasis on house-keeping. Oh yes, there is cleaning, but that is just one part of keeping a home and making it a place of welcome for the family, comfortable to live in, and a space we feel comfortable inviting friends into. I’ve discovered that’s what I want to do: I want to keep a home. I want to be able to invite people over without having to do a hurricane cleaning out before they come over (again not as easy to do now I’m no longer 20-something). I’m taking baby steps: putting stuff away, finding homes for things, and vacuuming and mopping on a more regular basis (once a month really isn’t enough). And we’ll see how it goes.

Are you doing things you didn’t think you’d do? Are there things you’re changing your mind about?

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I have a habit of reading seven or eight books at the same time. I really try to just read one fiction and one nonfiction at a time, but that never happens. It starts with two books, and before I know I’ve got a stack I’m reading. Here’s what I’m reading now.

Non-fiction

10 Lies the Church Tells Women J. Lee Grady

Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA) by Caroline Walker Bynum

Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of Their Stories by Tikva Frymer-Kensky

The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life by John Assaraf and Murray Smith

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson

Fiction

The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel by Salman Rushdie

In a Glass Darkly (Oxford World’s Classics) by Sheridan Le Fanu

Quite the collection, huh? What are reading?

Photo by ijsendoorn.

My husband does not wear the pants in this household. Neither do I. That honor goes to the Queen Diva: Victoria.

The Diva lounging on one of her royal subjects.

No, I am not moving. I don’t care how many times that thing flashes in my face.

Today I found out where The Diva gets her human-care training: Guidelines for Cats. I’m onto you now.

So what furry, feathered, or scaley creature rules your household?