Category Archives: Politics

2012 Elections, citizenship, education, homeschooling, Politics, president, presidential election, Social Studies, voting

Bringing the Election Home

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I’m a firm believer that all families should participate together in the electoral process, particularly in Presidential election years.  Since our oldest son was born in 2003 he has sat through every debate and been to the polls with me each time I voted.  The last Presidential election in 2008 we pulled our son out of Kindergarten and made a whole day out of going to vote as a family.  I even let him cast “my” vote for me in the booth so he felt more involved in the process.  Afterward we went to lunch and then came home to prepare a buffet of appetizers to be consumed as we watched the votes come in from across the country.
Our active role in politics in our family has led to our eldest son being very interested in politics.  He watches the debates and comments intelligently at the age of 9, no shock since at the age of 5 he had a better grasp than many adults I know.  He’s even made his own protest signs defending his beliefs.  He impresses me on a daily basis with his excitement about how our country works and his thirst for knowledge that comes from deep within his heart.
Each year we take the time to educate ourselves and actively discuss what we believe, even when we disagree, about the candidates and their stances.  We watch our own state’s elections as well following very closely the races of Governor, Senators, and Representatives.  Election night is something to celebrate, even when we don’t always agree. 
There is nothing more precious when you live in a truly free country than having the ability to go out and exercise that freedom in voting.  While many countries “vote”, their elections are fixed and those voting know their vote won’t count.  There is outright cruelty at the “polling places” where people are blocked from voting if they are not going to vote the way of the current regime or the regime wanting to take over.
Each and every time we as a country vote, we make a decision to move one step closer toward our freedom, or one step further from it.  If we choose not to vote, then that choice to move away from freedom is chosen for us in lieu of our choosing to fight for the freedoms won for us by generations of American blood spilled on battlefields around the world. 
This year, our family is preparing.  We’ve watched the debates and engaged in them together.  Granted, the 6 month old’s job has mostly been to scream at the TV because there aren’t any commercials on which are far more entertaining to watch.  We plan to go and vote as a family on November 6th.  We plan to go and spend the day together.  My husband is actually taking vacation from work so we can celebrate our country and her freedoms.
This year our son wanted to be part of the tallying process again.  As the results roll in across the country he is responsible for coloring in the charts and keeping the family updated in who is winning/losing.  We all watch the coverage together, but this gives him a special piece of memorabilia for each debate and helps him to see what happens.  The first year we did this, in 2008, he tracked just the Presidential Electoral Votes – all 538 of them!
In 2010, we tracked as the House of Representatives and Senate seats were filled and filled in the same charts.  Tracking two was a bit more of a challenge for him so I would write the numbers down on pink and blue sticky notes respectively so he could color in the right number. 
This time we’re tracking all three simultaneously.  To make things a bit simpler for you to follow along at home too, we’re offering this free PDF at Raising LittleSaints.  All you need to complete the activity is a red marker and a blue marker.  The Senate seats that are not up for vote are already marked for you.  For those with younger children, I highly recommend using stickers.  Either red and blue dots or even red and blue star stickers are a cheap “investment” for the return.  Just so you know you will need 1,073 (538 electoral votes, 435 in the House of Representatives, 100 Senators) stickers to complete all three charts if you go all white so plan ahead!  If you are using the already colored in version of the Senate chart you will need 1,006 (67 seats already filled and not up for election).  I would plan on having at least 600 red and 600 blue on hand in case we see a super majority sweep on one side or another. 
From our home to yours, Happy Election Day.  Embrace your freedom.  Rise above the partisan politics and see November 6, 2012 for exactly what it is: a living, breathing example of our Constitution in practice 225 years after it was signed by this country’s founding fathers.   Be the King.  VOTE.

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2012 Elections, Politics

Presidential Election 2012: This Homeschooling Dad Handicaps the Race

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Someone I know online posited that Rick Santorum should be the person Catholics back in the 2012 presidential election, even going so far as to compare his name to the Holy of Holies as some sort of sign, while knocking Rick’s competitors. That elicited a response from me, which I’m turning into a post for the Head Mistress of our fair homeschool.

Regardless of the lady I know’s bazaar allusion to the Holy of Holies, the simple fact is that Rick Sanctorum has about as much a chance of winning as Michelle Bachmann or John Huntsman. And no, I labor under no miraculous delusions about politicians. (the poster said we need to believe in miracles)

Personally I prefer Ron Paul over any of them because he’s the only non-politician amongst them who would actually use the Presidency as a bully pulpit to turn this country away from the economic cliff it is heading towards.  Plus, he’s an Austrian School guy, and Tom Woods and Jeffrey Tucker are both traditional Catholics and Austrian School fellows at the Ludwig von Mises Institute at Auburn.

That said, Paul has no chance.  The core of the Republican party is petrified of his willingness to actually send the Federal government on a downward size and expenditure trajectory, which scares the military industrial complex to death, would try to remake drastically the financial services sector who are trying to bleed this country to death, would alienate him from just about every constituency at the Federal food trough, and sends all of the willing prostituted politicians needed to vote in REAL change running for the hills.  No one talks about Ron Paul, and never has.  Why? Just about every vested interest in the United States, liberal or conservative, is PETRIFIED of him.

SIDE NOTE ABOUT IGNORING PAUL: IT IS VERY CONSPICUOUS I MIGHT ADD. EVEN JON STEWART DOES SKETCHES ABOUT IT ON THE DAILY SHOW. EVERYONE HAS GONE OUT OF THEIR WAY IN POLITICS AND THE MEDIA TO ACT LIKE RON PAUL DOESN’T EVEN EXIST.

So let’s run down the field:

Rick Perry:
HORRIFIC debater… Obama would eat him alive. Reminds people of W too much.

Michelle Bachmann
Seen as a Tea Partier, and I’m not sure even she believes she has a chance now. She’s just playing out the string. And it doesn’t say much for that staffer who flipped from Backmann to Paul.  Out of the fire perhaps, but into the frying pan nonetheless.

John Huntsman
Smart. Too smart for people to want to engage in or support and isn’t quick witty or acerbic enough to take on fellow Repulbicans; much less Obama. He’s also a Mormon, which KILLS him and Romney amongst evangelicals and some Catholics (moi).

Back to Rick Sanctorum
No gravitas.  The fact that he has to state his credentials over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over only proves it. He does not have the ability to move people. He’s only getting a look see because people still don’t like Romney and Gingrich.

Newt Gingrich
Like Clinton, CLEARLY the smartest guy in the room.  I mean, by FAR.  Ron Paul is pretty smart but a behind in second.  Newt, though, is impetuous and outspoken.  His snarkiness scares the establishment because he has the ability to instantly pop off and alienate some group, only to have to backtrack and make amends.  It wouldn’t lend itself to being President either, though him versus Obama would be the race for Professor of the United States.  Newt still has more baggage than the Roman Army.  That he joined the Church and has a decent Catholic wife is good… it helps to neuter his past some. You can see this because he regularly mentions “look at what kind of person I am now” as a talking point.

Mitt Romney?
The money guy. The easy, safe choice. Being a Mormon makes him about as palatable to the Republican base as McCain was four years ago. Look how that turned out. Romney doesn’t believe in anything, which makes him perfect for the GOP, wall street and bankers, and the military industrial complex and major international corporate financiers and money men. He is a Republican version of Obama. No matter who wins between these two, nothing changes.

The economy still drives off a cliff when our debt service gets so large that the US gets severe downgrades and interest rates explode. No one that gets money from the government, or an entitlement, or corporate giveaways or loopholes, cares to keep the train from running off the cliff.  I guess American’s want to have a Greek standard of living.

So who do I think will win in 2012?

Probably Obama, unless Gingrich can snatch the nomination away from Romney, because Romney has a thin skin and will turn to Milquetoast when being debated against by Obama.  Obama will eat Romney’s lunch.

Should Gingrich manage to win the nomination, he is going to have to have more discipline than he has ever had in his life to beat Obama, and keep himself and his staff on track and on message.  He hasn’t shown he can do that so far. Good week… bad week… good week… bad week… you can’t do that and win the election.

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