Mother's Day 2006, Take 1
by Mary Babic

What would Mom say to the President?
This is the time of year when our country stops and thanks the moms. And you know what? We deserve it.

And not just for the daily grind of housework that makes up the bulk of our labor: buying fresh milk, peeling oranges, shampooing smelly hair. But for something much more fundamental: we make good people.

Each day I struggle to give my children the tools they can use to become good people. Happy, productive, responsible, generous, brave.
I get tired of hearing myself saying the same phrases over and over. But it’s my job.

Now, I’d like to do that job for this administration and this president. I would like to offer some momilies that would make our country “good people.” This is the time when I’m permitted to do that. So here goes.

Don’t hit. Use your words.
Do not even consider dropping bombs on Iran until you’ve sat down at the negotiating table with them for so long that your bum is numb.

Use your head. Think before you leap. Actions have consequences.
You know what? I really don’t think you considered what would happen in Iraq before you sent our troops in there to knock down that statue of Saddam Hussein. When Donald Rumsfeld told you that they’d greet us with flowers, did you really believe that? Anyone with half a brain could have predicted the sectarian strife, the angry insurgent violence. I hope you’re going to learn from your mistakes.

If you cry wolf, I won’t know when to trust you.
I give you the benefit of respect and trust. If you violate my trust, you lose it. It’s increasingly clear that you did not tell the truth in order to get my approval for the invasion of Iraq. It’s possible you believed there were WMD; it’s not possible that you believed there was any connection between Hussein and 9/11.

Now I don’t believe you on a score of other arguments you’re making. You want me to believe that FEMA responded adequately to the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, that the climate isn’t warming, that it’s a good idea to put weapons up in space, that we need new and more usable nuclear weapons. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.

You broke it. You need to figure out how to fix it.
What was that, when you said that it would be up to the next president to get us out of Iraq? We call that passing the buck. I’d think a lot more of you if you’d admit the truth, acknowledge the mistake, and figure out an exit strategy. Those are my children getting blown up over there, not yours.

Money doesn’t grow on trees.
It works like this: you make money, you judge how much to spend accordingly. If your expenses exceed your income, you go into debt. And that debt won’t disappear; someone’s going to have to pay.
It isn’t fair that you’re sinking our country further and further into debt, and those who will have to pay aren’t even old enough to vote. If you need more money to pay for extraordinary things – the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rebuilding the Gulf Coast – you need to ask us for it. You don’t need to keep sending tax refunds and tax cuts to the wealthiest people on the planet.

If you made a promise, you need to keep it. Rules are not made to be broken.
This nuclear deal with India—it is a disgrace. The U.S. signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty for a reason: we have to agree with other countries to work together to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We need to abide by the law we agreed to! Have a sense of history: Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed us how they could obliterate us all.

Don’t talk with food in your mouth.
That one’s pretty much self evident…