Chris Wallace asked Michele Bachman: "Are you a flake?"

There seems to be a pattern developing in presidential politics.

When an attractive woman starts to yield some power even men who agree with her policies seem to feel the need to put her down in some way. There are numerous examples of this problem with the way Sarah Palin is treated in the media.

On Sunday Chris Wallace, after mentioning a few things Michele Bachman has said that perhaps should not have been said, actually asked, "Are you a flake?"

I'm sorry. I've watched Fox News Sunday for a long time and I don't think Chris Wallace would have asked a male candidate such a condescending and disrespectful question. After her excellent answer he fumbled to try to explain why he would ask such a thing and finally said,

"Do you -- do you -- and I think it's important to say that. But do you recognize that now that you're in the spotlight, in a way that you weren't before, that you have to be careful and not say what some regard as flaky things?"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/rep-michele-bachmann-talks-earmarks-obamacare-and-gay-marriage-sen-kyl-debt-talks#ixzz1QaJoBTCh

Oh please. Chris. You are not speaking to a child. Please keep the sexism a little more under wraps. I know that as a Christian I should not be assigning motives to people. I'm sure that Chris Wallace did not say to himself let me see how I can belittle Michele Bachman. No. I think it was more the unconscious drive that some men feel to put down an attractive powerful woman.

I do not consider myself a feminist because of the gross distortions feminism has promoted in regard to the role of woman in our society and, needless to say, in regard to the sanctity of human life. But when a respected journalist on FOX treats a woman in a manner that he surely would never treat a man, something is wrong. Whatever his intent was, this is sexism.

I was appalled. I can't imagine what he was thinking. He should send her a hand written apology followed up by a phone call with no excuses about this being what some people are saying.

Just my opinion.

P.S. I guess Mr. Wallace did apologize by phone to Michele Bachman yesterday and she accepted his apology. Still, it raises the question of why there is this unequal treatment of candidates.

Algebra Memories

I'm sitting in the library catching up on some things while Liz meets with an algebra tutor :-). I'm still teaching her, but we meet with the tutor about once a week to further answer questions, teach her things a different way, and to clean up explanations of mine that just aren't working.

I used to be good at algebra, although I do remember quite a few times grabbing my friend Susan Andrews the genius (May she rest in peace.) and asking her to PLEASE explain this concept to me again. She was a brilliant woman and she could explain things better than any of the math teachers. Besides that, she was patient and kind and didn't mind my frequent requests for additional explanation. Of course, she was so good at boiling it all down it only took her about five minutes to sum up what the teacher had been confusing me with for an entire period. OK. Let me restate that. I had good teachers. It only took Susan about five minutes to figure out where my glitch was and to clarify. In my teachers' defense, it also would have helped if I had paid a little more attention during class and spent less time talking to my friends. The fact that I knew I could always fall back on Susan's laser explanations probably gave me permission to focus a little less in class.

Susan died a few years ago of breast cancer. She had become a doctor which was no surprise to me. She had also been my lab partner in biology. While I squeezed my eyes shut during dissections and moaned and groaned, Susan would just laugh and gently encourage me along.

May she rest in peace, my math friend and biology lab partner. Oh Lord, please remember the kindness she showed me and others. May she even now be seeing you face to face, praising the Author of all math and science.

Algebra Headache

I am helping my daughter with algebra this summer.

As a result, I have discovered that there is such a thing as an algebra headache.

It starts with a feeling that the brain is being overworked. Then concepts start to get a little foggy. The forehead starts to feel kind of full. Then there is a mild feeling of panic that seems to ascend from somewhere around the base of the skull. I know it's an emotion but it seems to accompany this physical sensation. Then you are distracted from the topic the grey matter is working on because the entire head starts to feel pressured.

Then... the actual ache starts. It's time for caffeine and motrin, and maybe even a little break. A funny or lighthearted activity is recommended.

I like to watch news shows in the evenings.

But I am tired of hearing about Casey Anthony's murder trial and Congressman Anthony Weiner.

What on earth is the fascination the press seems to have with these two very, very sad news stories.

Is it that this "news" is easy to come by? Maybe. But I think people must also be enjoying hearing about it. Maybe "enjoying" is not the right word.

Casey Anthony. OK. Pretty clear she killed her toddler. This is such a tragic case. So very tragic for everyone. It's a heart breaker. I don't need to hear about the latest thing Casey did in the courtroom. I don't want to know if she has cried, if she has gotten sick from looking at the remains of her daughter. You know? Is it morbid curiosity that causes people to want to hear the details? I have to admit it sometimes gets my attention. Then I think--is it good for me to watch this? Is this important for me to know? And the answer is NO!

Congressman Weiner. I am not in any way defending or making light of what he has done. In fact, I would put it in the category of perversion. Clearly the man is very broken. I thought his apology was well done. Now I think he should be left alone. We have the details. We know he has only been married for a year. Yeah. Another tragedy. The man's marriage and public service career is ruined. He is probably suffering from an addiction and now it appears he is getting treatment. Why not leave him alone now!!??!!

As most of my readers know, I am a very conservative republican. But I find the ongoing news coverage of this man offensive. Let him and his constituents decide if he should resign. Is it anybody else's business really? I find the endless badgering of Weiner to almost be in the category of bullying. He has apologized. He's been publicly humiliated. He has cried in public. Can't we give this fascination a rest?

Sorry. I just had to vent a little.

Sitting in the mall waiting for Mary's haircut to be finished....

Feeling happy that I have a new MacBook Pro to play with. Finally. I was really missing my MacBook (which was stolen...Lord have mercy.)

Going out to dinner tonight with three of my children to the restaurant where another son is working.

Hoping my husband's trip to Florida to see to things for my mother-in-law will go well. Hoping and, of course, praying.

Loving the grace from my hour of Adoration today. I love Adoration hours.....

Meeting Suzanne

There is just something very special about meeting a blogging friend in person. A few years ago I met Denise from A Catholic Matriarch in My Domestic Church . We were at the March for Life. In person, Denise was just as kind, gracious, intelligent, and well-informed as she is in her blog.

My experience meeting Suzanne from Suzanne's Shorelines was the same. Suzanne is just as dear, sweet, kind, warm and genuine as she is on her blog. And her smile is just as sincere and sparkly in person as in her pictures. Yup. That's really Suzanne. What a blessing from God that we were able to meet.

May we meet again. And all the rest of our blogging friends too. In the meantime, we still have these blogs and Facebook to keep in touch with. For all the dangers and hazards associated with the internet, this technology also enriches our lives, doesn't it.

Finally we meet!

For nearly five years Suzanne of Suzanne's Shorelines and I have been reading each other's blogs.

We've come to know quite a bit about each other. We have an awful lot in common. Truly, we are sisters in the Lord.

Today we finally got to meet each other in person. It was so strange, surreal as she put it, to be meeting for the first time someone I already know so well and consider a friend.

Suzanne was coming through Ann Arbor on her way back from a trip to Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan. Her sweet friends, Lynn and Karen, generously agreed to take the time to stop so we could meet and have lunch.

It was such fun. We just couldn't stop smiling. I was able to show Suzanne the little chapel at Dominos Farms where I often go for daily Mass. And she saw the outside of my parish church, Christ the King.
Finally. We were able to meet. We talked about our mutual blogging friends and the circle of great Catholic mothers who have become our e-circle of friends. What fun it would be if we could all get together sometime and actually talk and share in person! Something to think about. I would love it.

I'm meeting Suzanne!!

Suzanne of Suzanne's Shorelines is here in town and we will be meeting in less than an hour.

This is so totally cool. And so strange. I am meeting someone with whom I have communicated on a regular basis for some 4 or 5 years. Yet until just a little while ago, I had never even heard her voice. Reading each other's blogs, we know quite a bit about each other, our families, prayer requests, background, beliefs, etc. Suzanne and I have always been amazed at how much we have in common. She is definitely a spiritual sister. And now I get to meet her!!!

Later I will post the pictures. This is going to be fun.