The O'Reilly Factor 2-20-2k12 Commentary

[acmemindguard]

Dear Mr. Goldberg,
I was listening to your comments on the Bill O'Reilly Show this evening in regards to mothers and I have to tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. Since I raised my two sons alone, (my first husband died of AIDS and the second found a new family before he died of a heart attack), I think I speak with some authority. Your statistical information is crap. I barely had a high school education, (GED), yet I not only sent two sons, who are seven years apart, to college at the University of Central Florida I also did it as an independent business owner. Not wanting to be less educated than my children I went to back to college in 2006. I graduated with my BA from the University of Central Florida in 2010 as both my college educated fatherless sons looked on. Now we are UCF Legacy! There are millions of stories just like mine in this great country and your bleak picture of motherhood in America is just another one of those made up media myths that we hear about.
Miss K.Meyer

[peeweeaz]

Miss Meyer,

I applaud and salute you for having the intestinal fortitude to overcome the hardships presented to you due to the death of your husband. You are a model for all single moms struggling to make it in this fragile economy. However, you may be in the minority. Having said that, I must say I agree with the thrust of Bernie's comments vis-a-vis the "new norm". I grew up in Baltimore and saw first hand what happens when this entitlement mentality and generational welfare takes over - single moms who have children just to increase their government checks; deadbeat fathers who reap the benefits of the welfare check; no work ethic,; drug use; their children in gangs because there is no father figure at home to help with the rearing duties. I could go on; but in the interest of brevity, I will stop. Bernie is one of the few commentators to finally take on what is a massive problem within the inner cities of this country - entitlement mentality. And, it has nothing to do with race because there are more white people on welfare than other ethnic groups. So, Bernie, keep beating that drum and maybe somebody will finally listen and get these people into some kind of work for pay program or, at the very least, provide training so they can develop the skills to take on some personal responsibility and provide for themselves and their families. I, for one, am tired of paying for them. I realize I went off topic, but it does relate.

[acmemindguard]

Thank you for those words and your points are well taken. I grew up in the Bronx and like Balitmore watched my city rise and fall like the tide. Fortunately as a child I never went hungry, was never homeless, and when my Dad lost his job in the 1960's we were lucky enough to have my Mom's family see us through those very difficult times. I would be remiss if I did not agree that America is facing its greatest social crisis since the Depression Era but this is a crisis of our own making. When the welfare system specifically ADC began in 1935 as part of the New Deal it encouraged the break down of the family and the creation of a permanent underclass. It discouraged women from entering the workforce and yes, encouraged women to have children as a source of income. The program targeted people of color who were the most marginalized demographic in our society and penalized the biological father of these children from participating in their lives. Despite men abandoning their children, women were left to try to rise above this State sponsored relegation to the underclass. Recognizing the bleakness of the American Woman's future and their socioeconomic state the National Organization of Women was formed in 1966 to: ""To take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men." We all know how that turned out and just to remind you it has been 40 years since we sent the ERA to the States for ratification and we are still waiting. The Vietnam War cost the lives of more than 58,000 US soldiers and as a result many more women and their children were forced on to the dole. Having no mandate for equality in our society, social or economic, American women gritted their teeth and through their biological superiority and love for their colorless children raised an entire generation practically alone. In the 1980's the Reagan Administration changed the Social Security laws and cut the death benefits for children from age 25 to age 18. This resulted in the inability of many young people to afford college and/or trade school and created what has now become the student loan debacle. In 1996 President Clinton, (who himself never knew his father and whose own mother was marginalized for a time), attempted to overhaul a welfare system that had created this underclass. He limited the number of years that benefits could be collected to a lifetime limit of 5 years. These reforms also discouraged women from having additional children for monetary reasons and encouraged birth control. In addition to these welfare reforms the Clinton Administration with the assistance of a bipartisan Congress created education and job opportunities for women which trickled down to their children. My point here is that Mr Goldberg's commentary sounds very much what we Feminists refer to as the "Man in the House" solution. The underlying message there is, that it is women who are to blame for our current socioeconomic conditions and that if we only had a man in the house to care for us and our children society would be a better place. Historically men have always abandoned their children and always for their own selfish means and Women have been left to raise civilizations. If Mr Golberg and men like him really want to change a society where women's wombs and the children they bear are socioeconimic chattel then maybe they need to use their power of the media to bring attention the root cause of the current dilemma, the inequality of women and the impotence of men.
Miss K.