"Ann Romney to Hilary Rosen: My career choice was motherhood"

[Warren Stupidity]

No Ann, your career choice was to marry Richy-rich RMoney. The rest of us have a slightly different set of options on our plate.

ref: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57413108-503544/ann-romney-to-hilary-rosen-my-career-choice-was-motherhood/

[Hepburn]

1. No, Ann, your career was to...

...drive a couple of Cadillacs.

Duh...

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Big difference b/n employment and motherhood.

You generally can't get fired from motherhood and go more than a year without a salary. Or you can't get re-hired because you're "too old". Or there are too many "mothers" in competition for your next job.

I'm talking job security.

[calimary]

3. And wasn't it nice for you that you didn't HAVE to go to work to make sure your kids had food to eat

every night, Ann?

Unfortunately, too many women don't have that option, and certainly don't have that luxury.

[Marr]

4. "...said she has struggled plenty."

That is an insult to every working person. I suspect "struggling" for Ann Romney means having to settle for white marble in the fourth bathroom of her third house, because the pink marble wasn't available.

I'd like to hear exactly what she calls "struggling".

[Pathwalker]

17. She had Breast Cancer and has MS.

Both require struggling.

[SpencerShay]

25. But...

Ann Romney didn't "struggle" to pay her medical bills. Ann Romney has never had to worry about not being able to pay her medical bills, or end up going bankrupt because of her medical bills. It's sad that Ann Romney, and her husband don't want everybody to have the same good healthcare, that she and her husband no doubt have. Get it, now?

Probably not.

[Pathwalker]

29. Welcome to DU. Despite your ASSumption, I get it.

What is this "health care" of which you speak? Thank you for joining to insult me, but you have NO CLUE about me, or anyone else on this board, so I will just say say I know full well what is is like to struggle to pay medical bills, as well as what it's like to STRUGGLE with cancer, go blind in my good eye, be disabled AND to do it WITHOUT MEDICAL INSURANCE!!!
So, spare me your high and mighty attitude. I was simply trying to make the point that she has had a few struggles in her very privileged life. Not to mention the constant struggle of prying her husband's stinky feet out of his mouth on an all too regular basis.

However alone it makes me, I still consider compassion to be a PROGRESSIVE VALUE. I refuse to deny Cancer survivors compassion, even IF they're rich fools. Don't like it? I don't care.

[Mimosa]

69. M.S. patient here, can't afford health insurance

I won't lower myself to disparage Ann Romney. Everybody, even rich people, have problems in life.

[JDPriestly]

28. But not the struggle that ordinary mothers have if they have 5 children,

a full-time job and breast cancer and MS. There is just no comparison. She is a woman of leisure trying to be just one of us. She may be a very lovely person, but she is not one of us. She never had to get up at 7:00 a.m. every morning to get her children off to school, work a full day and then return to pick the kids up from a babysitter. She never had to do that five days a week and then vacuum and clean house on the weekend.

She does not know the struggle with everyday reality that working mothers contend with. Her remarks make it seem like she made some sort of sacrifice or choice. She did not. And neither would most of us in her position.

[Pathwalker]

30. I didn't say she did. I simply acknowledged her health issues.

You want to berate me for that, see my reply to the poster above. Cancer doesn't care, we as humans should. We, as progressive, certainly should.

[closeupready]

33. NOBODY IS ATTACKING HER AS A CANCER OR MS SURVIVOR.

They ARE saying she is wrong to suggest she knows what poor people are going through when they struggle to put food on the table as they work two or three jobs.

[Pathwalker]

35. Did she say that? I just watched her again on Marting Bashir,

and I did not hear those particular words come out of her mouth. She simply said she's had struggles, too. How can she know or understand what we ordinary folk go through - she was born into privilege, too. The poster suggested she'd NEVER had to struggle over ANYTHING. My husband's been unemployed for over a year now, so it's not like we don't have our own financial "issues", and I never once suggested she knew or understood what that is like. Nope. Didn't say it, or imply it. The post to which I replied stated that her only experience with struggle was deciding on marble for the bathroom.

[closeupready]

37. You interjected Ann's health problems here.

Without any reason to do so.

Did you also post in threads about Dick Cheney's heart transplant?

[Pathwalker]

38. Why, gee, no I didn't. If I had I would have said:

how sorry I was that an innocent heart was sentenced to life inside his body. Thank you, Jon Stewart.
I "Interjected" her health problems because the poster stated that Ann Romney had never struggled with anything more serious that choosing marble. Cancer survivors know that's not true. That was a good reason, whether you agree, or not.

PS: I was busy struggling with my own health issues when Darth had his IMplant, and was waaay to sick to post then, in case that's your next issue.

[closeupready]

39. You're not getting it because you don't want to.

Fine. I wish you well.

[Pathwalker]

41. 10 words. My first post was TEN words.

If you are some illusion that I like, respect, admire, or would EVER vote for Mitt, or his wife - or any other Repuke, you are very wrong. I have been voting in Presidential elections since 1968, and I have never once voted for a Repub, and I never will. All I was stating was that Fighting Cancer is a struggle. THAT is the absolute truth, as ANYONE who's ever had to fight it, can tell you. YOU are ignoring MY point, which was simply that fighting cancer qualifies as "struggling". SORRY you get THAT.

[closeupready]

49. Cheers.

I wish you all the best.

[magical thyme]

86. Mitt has claimed he relies on her advice for "women's" issues

That is his basis for making decisions that will impact women's lives. And he seems to be leaning toward not believing in equal pay for equal work because, as some rw governor (that Mitt's just expressed great support for) recently claimed that pay and money just aren't as important to women as it is to men.

That is why this is such an issue. It's not by chance that the question came up just now.

As you write yourself, Anne Romney has zero idea about ordinary women's lives.

Anne's breast cancer and ms are red herrings.

What would somebody who has never had to choose between taking on a lifetime of debt to fight cancer or just die, or off themselves so as not to be a burden to your family understand about ordinary people's lives?

[Mimosa]

71. No cure for M.S. It never goes away

Mine is getting worse. I can't afford treatment.

[JDPriestly]

47. I don't question that you care. I question whether the Romneys understand the

struggles of ordinary Americans enough to really care.

The right-wing likes to focus on "choices." Well, they say when they talk about the poor, "They made bad choices."

By that they mean he or she drinks too much or has too many children because he or she has too much sex.

In so thinking, they totally ignore the three-martini lunches they regularly take on their golf dates and those glasses of wine they drink before bed each night and the fact that their own five or six children (not specifically talking about the Romneys) -- most likely did not arrive without their having the same amount of sex as a poor person with the same number of children.

[Pathwalker]

57. How can they understand? They were both born into privilege.

I grew up poor, so guess I "chose" the wrong parents, and so did an awful lot of other people. They can say they understand, but I don't see how they could ever KNOW what it's like out here in the real world. And from my own experience, you're right about the way they disconnect their own behavior from that of others. Also, being poor can be the result of never having choices, at all. I blame Republican policies for that. Always another tax but for the rich, never a dime to invest in better schools, Head Start, etc.

[JDPriestly]

59. Right.

[Mimosa]

72. Would you say the Kennedys or Roosevelts couldn't understand ?

I'm not sure Romney is a republican demon. He's better than Newt.

[greymattermom]

92. no wine and no caffeine

but they eat a lot of candy. at least many Mormons do. For some reason chocolate is ok but coffee isn't. Both are beans to me.

[Mimosa]

70. If a person can't afford to support 5 children she'd be irresponsible to have them

Unless a person can provide for children and provide them love they shouldn't have them.

[JDPriestly]

88. And that is why we need Planned Parenthood.

Family planning is essential. It is important for a woman's health, for the children's well being and for family life.

Most of us cannot afford five children. I couldn't.

[SammyWinstonJack]

94. She is only pretending to be one of us for the sake of her husband's bid for the Presidency.

After this election is over, however it turns out, she will not have to pretend any longer.

[DeschutesRiver]

99. She didn't have cancer or MS when she was raising her children

so her health issues were never part of this issue of staying home to raise the kids. To be exactly correct, there was one last 17 year old boy at home. But it is false for people to bring up her later life health issues as though they were also challenges she faced while raising a brood of 5, because it didn't happen.

But I agree with what you said completely that Ann is falsely portraying her situation as similar to most hard working American stay at home mothers. I am not certain she realizes that her audience is not as unintelligent as she is or would like them to be regarding this issue.

I certainly feel that there is no need to give her a pass for something (her subsequent health issues) that didn't exist during the relevant time period of her choosing to be a stay at home mom with home help staff benefits unavailable to the majority of stay at home mothers - who do work hard to do the raising of their children themselves, not outsource it as Ms. Romney did. That was her choice, as well, and I think she would do better to stand by her decision to outsource child raising labor and effort, instead of pretending it didn't happen.

I actually know women who live as Ann Romney does with all that child raising, house cleaning, life arranging staff - and they have no problem embracing their lifestyle. Ann isn't doing the same, merely because she really, really, really wants to be First Lady, and see her dh become president, and like him, is willing to say whatever it takes to make this happen for her and him. Even if what she says is not true or needs to change every 5 minutes to accommodate different audiences with diverse points of view - the Romneys will say whatever it takes to win a vote.

[aquart]

43. But considerably less struggling than others who have those conditions.

For instance, her children never had to become her caregivers. She never had to fight her body to get to classes and finish her education so she could find useful employment to help herself and her children.

The horror is, she BELIEVES she's had it tough.

[Marr]

66. She's clearly talking about money, working, etc.

She's never struggled economically in her life, and I'm sure cost is not a factor in her healthcare.

[nanabugg]

100. My mother raised us, worked and had breast and lung cancer until she died.

My mom did not have the benefit of nannies or other household help. So what are you saying...Ann?

[treestar]

89. Do men get the chance to make the career choice of fatherhood?

It's not a career choice. Both sexes can become parents, and they have to support the children then. That means have a career or job of some kind. It's not mutually exclusive. Except for rich people.

[russspeakeasy]

5. Ignorance runs in the family.

[MADem]

6. How would that have worked out without Moneybags paying the bills? What a load of faux poutrage!

How nice that she didn't have to "choose" between feeding, clothing and housing those "choice" children--and not being able to do that because she didn't have a paycheck.

[KansDem]

16. MSNBC is reporting on the "firestorm" (their word)...

...that Rosen created with her remark about Ann. MSNBC claims the GOP is using this "firestorm" to quell the perception that they're "anti-woman."


They're really going to their lapdogs in the media on this one!

[MADem]

23. Some firestorm, when even Greta Van Susteren is mitigating for Rosen!

I say let it burn!

The GOP started this "War on Women" so let's get it on. People will grow tired of how poor, Three Caddy, Horses at every home Ann Romney is being beaten up for having to raise those five boys with just a few servants! Yes, indeedy, rounding up five rambunctious lads in a house the size of a football field has got to be a difficult chore, particularly if Jeeves is too busy taking delivery of the pheasant and truffles for the evening meal and can't join in the hunt!

Oh, the HUMANITY!

[SammyWinstonJack]

95. heheh.

[Generic Other]

7. A Mormon woman talking about having a choice?

Now there's a strange concept.

[Ilsa]

10. This is an excellent point.

In Mitten's world, women's highest and best use is to make lots of babies and run the household.

[KansDem]

19. And by "run the household," do you mean...

...supervise the cooks, maids, gardeners, and other servants?

As Bush might say, "Millionairing is hard work!"

[nashville_brook]

8. how many of us actually had that CHOICE, and how hard is the GOP

working to REMOVE that choice for generations of women to come.

choice cuts both ways, sister. it's not a choice when a pregnancy is forced to term, and it's not a choice when you MUST work to survive.

no, she had the LUXURY of being a mom. big difference.

[HughBeaumont]

9. Really?? When has Mitt ever been worth less than mid to high 6 figures?

Ann, the day you can tell me that is the day you'll get your "sorry" from us for our very, VERY correct assertion that you've never truly struggled a DAY in your manicured and multi-mansioned LIFE.

But don't let that stop you from talking. Each shamelessly out-of-touch thing you spout equals many more votes for the President.

[Aerows]

13. Try seven or eight figures

He was born a millionaire.

[MADem]

24. Don't forget his 'deddy'--old Brainwashed George was a rich SOB even way back when. nt

[Ilsa]

11. But I still think the Obama campaign is handling this well by

Distancing themselves from Ms Rosen's comment.

[closeupready]

34. Yes, and Rosen is correct to refuse to retract.

IMHO.

[aquart]

44. She officially apologized.

[closeupready]

48. Thanks. Yes, I saw that just now.

I'm sure she was pressured to do so. Regardless, I still think her remarks were correct.

[joeglow3]

50. Really? What does it say about my wife?

She made the decision to stay at home with our children. We make sacrifices so she can and both feel it is well worth it. However, it is OUR decision and not a god damn person has a right to say otherwise, just like I am not willing to judge anyone else for their decision. We have been able to do an AWESOME job and pointing out how anti-women the 'pugs are and then Rosen runs her mouth on this dumb fucking statement. Regardless of what she meant, she is more than smart enough to know how it would come across for many women and to NOT make a statement like this.

[closeupready]

51. Are you and your wife worth $300 Million?

No? Then it doesn't apply.

[joeglow3]

52. Again she is smarter than that

It is dumb as fuck to dig your heels in on this one. While I agree with your sentiment (and agree that was what she meant), in today's world of politics it is REAL easy to twist someone's words. She was out-politicized and made the right call. I assure you there are MANY people in my family's shoes who WILL see it the way I posted it. Best to apologize, put it to bed and move the dialogue back to the issues with the right and THEIR anti-women stances.

[closeupready]

54. Well, she DID apologize. So, she's not digging her heels in.

I'm not Hilary Rosen, however, and I agree with her initial remarks, with the later caveats we've discussed here.

[Cali_Democrat]

12. She's a typical Republican wife

Very subservient to her husband. Barefoot and pregnant for much of her life popping out kids left and right.

She's never had a real job.

[Maine-ah]

20. if she raised those kids with out a nanny

then she did have a real job. If they were all nannied up, then I will certainly agree with you.

[CTyankee]

67. I have some experience with wealthy people raising children and from my experience

a nanny may not be their choice but they still have a great many helpers in their lives. Their money buys them a housekeeper, perhaps twice a week. Nice vacations, both away and closer by. A nice wardrobe altho nothing too extravagant. A great house in a wonderful neighborhood with terrific schools. Guaranteed college educations for their kids.

These are not bad people. They live a nice, suburban life. They are accustomed to some luxuries that most others don't have. But they want hands-on influence on their kids, helping with homework, volunteering at the school library, nutrition council for the school lunches committee and doing the program for the high school musical production. They help with the kids' homework every night and put them to bed. They help run the Girl Scouts troop or the Audubon programs.

From my experience, they are very well aware of the phenomenon of "a white girl's problem." They know this to be true if they are liberals. And therein lies the problem! They are not Ann Romney. Where do we draw the line? Nannies or no nannies? Any household help at all? Affluent v. working class neighborhoods?

We have to make some distinctions here. Who gets off the hook and who stays guilty as charged?

[Dawson Leery]

14. Without Mittens fortune (stolen from pension funds of the workers he laid off)

Ann would never have been able to have the life she does.

[Liquorice]

46. She was born to a wealthy family and is pretty well-educated.

She would have been rich regardless of Mitty.

[Whisp]

15. out of touch with the american people seems to run in the family

Ann Romney is a spoiled rich brat. How dare she, the 1%er, compare her 'hard work' with the millions of women who have to go out and take on more than one job to provide for their kids then come home from work for more work. Has she ever worried about where the money is coming from for school supplies, for medicine, for a healthy diet?

fuck you Ann.

[renate]

27. yup--what is she implying about women who work outside the home?

That they DON'T raise their children?

[aquart]

45. Nah. She's admitting she can't walk and chew gum.

[Fla Dem]

18. Ann Romney's privileged position in life allowed her to actually have a choice.

Many, many mothers do not have the luxury to make a choice.

[aquart]

21. I get the feeling Ann isn't a campaign asset.

[SammyWinstonJack]

96. LOL. Ya think?

[jwirr]

22. I choose motherhood also but the difference I was very poor. I was divorce with three children, one

being severely disabled and needing care 24/7. The difference was that I paid the price for that decision with continued poverty and no real social security. Motherhood is a job but it does not pay a living wage (unless you marry a rich spouse) and has very few benefits.

[backscatter712]

26. Surely, I'm not the only one who still hasn't forgiven Hilary Rosen for her tenure at the RIAA...

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of Ann Romney, but I can't say I'm enthusiastic about Rosen working as a surrogate for Obama on the campaign trail.

[zorahopkins]

31. No, Ann, YOUR "Choice" Was To Be A Trophy Wife

Honestly, Ann.

You really had no choice at all.

You did what all good little Mormon women are expected to do -- you got married.

And you had kids.

And you were rich enough to have your kids raised rich.

You never had to worry about buying the best clothes for your kids.

You never had to worry about health care for your kids.

You never had to worry about being able to send you kids to the best schools.

You are part of the 1%.

You don't know what it is like to be a real woman.

[opihimoimoi]

53. Ed Zachery

[DonCoquixote]

65. Make this reply an OP

It cuts to the heart of the matter!

[Mimosa]

75. Tell it to Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy

Those points apply to those admirable women.

[SammyWinstonJack]

97. "Too whom much is given, much is expected."

Ann rMoney doesn't get that. Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy, did.

[Johonny]

32. I'm glad she had the option of being a full time mother

many women simply do not have that option. If Ann Romney understood that then she would understand why so many doubt the Romney's are "in touch" with Americans. I'm pretty sure most Americans understand the answer my career choice was motherhood really doesn't come off well. You know must women have work and be a Mom in today's America. Heck some work 2 or 3 jobs just to get by AND BE A MOM. Hilary Rosen sort of stuck her foot in it, but overall I don't see much the Ann Romney's of the world can do since they are talking about fantasy options available to the mythical 50s middle class mother that simply doesn't reflect modern American economics.

If you choose to be a stay at home mom/dad then you get called a coach potato by the Chris Christie's of the world. In Republicanland you can't win.

[Iris]

63. Even mother's who work outside the home are "full-time mothers"

Do we call fathers with jobs "full-time fathers"? No! They are fathers even if they don't live in the home.

[Johonny]

68. you win the battle of semantics

[Iris]

74. I think it is truly insulting to use language to suggest

that someone can choose to mother "part-time"

[Jennicut]

36. Neither Hillary Rosen or Ann Romney really get it.

I was a stay at home Mom for a few years, which was my choice. I am now working as a substitute teacher/para in schools. Not full time, but 3 to 4 times a week. It is good for my schedule with my kids. But we had to make a lot of sacrifices for me to stay home with my girls for the first few years (they are 6 and 7 now). My husband works a full time job during the week and works on the weekends for extra money as a church organist. We live in a small cape, we don't go wild with spending. Ann Romney never had to worry about what her family would do with out if she stayed home with her kids. At the same time, putting down Moms who chose to stay at home is pretty crappy too.

[SpencerShay]

56. Oh, please...

Hillary Rosen didn't "put down" mothers who stay home. Hillary Rosen's point was that Ann Romney is not a good spokesperson for struggling working-class women, because Ann Romney is filthy rich, and has no idea about the economic struggles of of working-class women. Because Ann Romney is lucky enough to be so rich, she has never had to go out and work a day in her life for a PAYCHECK. That was the point.

Keep it up. Republicans are counting on your kind of stupidy to win the election.

[Gold Metal Flake]

40. How do all of the horses fit into her career?

[HangOnKids]

58. She's A Part Time Jockey n/t

[Mimosa]

73. Like Jacqueline Kennedy?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OAh4Xl94vrU/TCi5bG4XhYI/AAAAAAAAU2I/4VFOCYvu3WM/s400/jackie+and+children+riding.jpg

[Nye Bevan]

76. No fair. The Kennedys don't count. They are Democrats (nt)

[Gold Metal Flake]

78. How many jobs did JFK destroy for profit? nt

[Nye Bevan]

79. How many jobs did Ann Romney destroy for profit? nt

[Gold Metal Flake]

80. Not sure that is relevent. However, since Mitt said that Ann was...

..his adviser on issues of economics for working class women it is reasonable to investigate her qualifications for the task. As Hilary Rosen pointed out, those qualifications are shockingly few.

If you wish to support Mitt Romney in his choices for economic advisers you may do so. I support the Democratic candidate for the Presidential election, not the Republican.

[Nye Bevan]

81. This is an Ann thread, not a Mitt thread. nt

[Gold Metal Flake]

82. My, a bit authoritarian, and simplistic.

This thread is a continuation of the RW-sourced outrage against Hilary Rosen's response to Mitt Romney's claim that his wife is his adviser with regard to the economic issues facing working women. This thread also contains attempts by members of DU to support the RW outrage message over the truth of Rosen's statement. That DUers would so enthusiastically support the RW medias catapulting of the propaganda is telling, indeed.

[Nye Bevan]

85. You don't agree that what she said was politically dumb?

Sometimes the smart thing to do is to apologize and try to change the subject. I am glad she did that.

[Gold Metal Flake]

87. I'll not participate in RW media witch hunts.

What Willard Romney said is the problem.

[Mimosa]

90. No, nobody here is supporting RW outrage.

Attacking Ann Romney is bad strategy, pure and simple.

Winning strategy would be to show what Democrats can and will do to help support families and grow the American economy. When a party goes negative and gets personal it means they have nothing to offer and everybody knows it.

What would President Obama do to help create jobs? That's what Americans want to know.

[Gold Metal Flake]

102. Nobody attacked Ann Romney. Rosen attacked Willard Romney. Please learn who is who.

[eridani]

91. None--she just lives like a parasite off the proceeds thereof n/t

[MADem]

101. If you are trying for the JFK comparison, you have it all wrong.

JFK would be MITT, and Jackie would be Ann.

Thus, your question would have to be "How many jobs did MITT Romney destroy for profit?"

And the answer, my dear, is a SHITLOAD.

[Gold Metal Flake]

77. The wife of JFK, a class traitor who worked to help working class people live better?

You are comparing the wife of a progressive from a family of progressive liberal class traitors with the wife of a class warrior who spent his career destroying companies and the lives of working class men and women, some of them moms, for profit?

You know, there might be a communications gig at the Catholic League for someone with your communication skills.

[SammyWinstonJack]

98. +1.

[sinkingfeeling]

42. Wonder how many million American women had both a career and motherhood?

[Iris]

64. Many! And guess what? They were never "part-time moms"!!!!!

[Simeon Salus]

55. I don't suppose it would help to ask

"Exactly how many of you live in Stepford, Ann?"

This feigned outrage thing is so effective when people are looking for reasons to feel negative anyway.

[Iris]

62. Not a career. Even moms with jobs outside the home are still mothers

All their lives, too!

[LaPera]

83. Get fucking real Republicans!!

How many women do you know who have never worked a single day in their entire life like Ann Romney hasn't?

Never a single day working from out of the home or in the work force or even selling on ebay, ever? -How many can you name? And would you take economic advice about your own finances from her?

The real point was made that Republicans are distorting is that Mitt Romney says he gets his (national) “economic advice” from his wife?

This is how republicans plan to run the country's economy, by the advice of a someone that's NOT an economics major nor has never even worked a single day in her whole life....again, not from out of the home or in the work force or even selling on ebay?

Get real!

[Gold Metal Flake]

84. Thank you for not catapulting the RW propaganda.

+1

[Cass]

93. She can go fuck off. So because I have to work I am not choosing motherhood???

This comes across like she is patting herself on the back for choosing her kids over a job, while looking down her nose at mothers who work because they choose a job instead of their kids. She needs to get over herself already. Not all of us have the resources she has and that means we have to work, there is no choice involved.

What genius thought she should be out there trying to relate to women? She is clueless and out of touch with no understanding of reality.