As the mother of a very impressionable, inquisitive little girl, I have been closely following the recent media coverage about bullying in schools. Kids are apparently being taunted, made to feel inferior and even threatened, for going against the grain or having a different point of view. Wait… were these stories about school bullying, or media and political bullying?

In a well-publicized incident, co-host Joy Behar of TV’s The View called Nevada Republican senatorial candidate Sharron Angle a curse word that I would NEVER want my daughter to accidentally walk by the television and overhear. Behar called Angle this word repeatedly and even insisted that Angle was “going to hell.” Never mind that Joy Behar had never actually met Sharron Angle yet still felt compelled to call her these horrible things based on one of the candidate’s television campaign commercials (Angle, incidentally, sent Behar flowers in exchange for the insults). And never mind that Behar is supposed to be a professional broadcast journalist – and a grown up, at that. What struck me, is how the same broadcast media that seems to be perpetually scratching its head at the epidemic of bullying in schools, is setting an awful good example of it themselves.

Another example can be introduced with two once innocent words that used to refer to a favorite imaginative game played by little girls like my daughter – Tea Party. Now look what kinds of emotions those two little words spark, especially when the flame is fanned by the media! A group that was reportedly started to voice concern over a government that is growing and spending too quickly has become a magnet for sarcasm, taunting, and anger, even spawning counter groups, whose purpose is simply to mock it.  When I watch the media coverage of the Tea Party and other “hot button” political issues – bullying is evident on all sides.

The end result of this media feeding frenzy is media coverage of politics – on this Election Day in particular – that deserves a “PG-13” rating at the least. Rather than allowing your kids to watch political coverage on TV “unsupervised” and come to their own conclusions (such as “the candidates who bully the most get the most votes”), use this very interesting time in our history as an opportunity to start a conversation about the political process. Teach them that just because two political candidates or members of the media disagree about something, doesn’t necessarily mean they hate each other. Remember that kids, especially younger ones, may naturally assume that if two people are yelling at each other, they must be enemies. This can be very confusing and upsetting. This is also a great way to remind them that just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t make you a bad person.

I will leave you with one final example of public political behavior, but on the opposite end of the manners spectrum. This is the kind of story I hope you will share with your kids. Here in my home state of California, Republican senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina, while battling her political opponent Senator Barbara Boxer, has also been battling breast cancer. This campaign has been just as heated as any other in the midterm elections, and neither candidate has pulled their punches. But when Carly was recently hospitalized for a post-surgical infection, her opponent, Senator Boxer, was quick to wish her well in her recovery. Common manners do exist – even in the often harsh world of politics. This is what our kids should be focusing on.

Use this Election Day as a way of reinforcing what is great about America, our country’s REAL values, and our process for electing people to public service. And maybe, just maybe, our politicians and the media who are supposed to be covering their campaigns (not influencing them) – will eventually learn those lessons themselves.

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“I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK,”
-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, August 10, 2010

Actually – no Senator Reid, that’s not okay. It’s not okay to issue such a blanket statement without explaining the context of your words. And believe me, I looked for context. I searched the internet for a reason to give you the benefit of the doubt. What I found, was the end of that now infamous campaign trail quote, in which you asked, “Do I need to say more?”

Actually – yes Senator Reid, it would be helpful if you said more. Are you labeling those of us who are Latino or of Hispanic descent, as leftist simply because we’re “supposed to be”? Are you saying that we as a culture are not inherently deep enough to understand political issues in all their complexity? If you are being so ignorant to assume that we are all one way and label us as such, you are disrespecting all of us. Your statement shows that you do not understand us as a culture, at all.

As a culture, we have a deep sense of pride, a deep sense of right and wrong, we are extremely hard working and yes, we think just as deeply as the heritages that you obviously think “could be Republican.”

Why are so many Latinos Republicans? I immediately think of my parents and their old school moral values and work ethic. It is the values of our culture that make us more conservative than not. Even if I am a Democrat I still have those cultural values – they are deeply instilled in me. And yes, as the younger generation of Latinos reaches voting age, we as a culture are generally liberal. But we are also smart enough to realize that as informed voters, we are generally smarter and more grounded than most politicians. We realize that our political system doesn’t work and there is a lot of rhetoric to cut through on both sides in order to come to an informed decision that also takes into account our personal values. This means that some of us will be Republicans, some Democrats, some Independents, some conservative, some liberal and some a blend of all of the above.

Senator Reid, your statement is just one sad example of how all you politicians are disregarding this and trying to box us into simplistic categories so you can continue to insult us with simple, condescending platforms and sound bites on complex issues that affect us all as Americans. This is our eternal frustration with politicians. You are not really seeing what we as Americans want. You think that as figureheads you can make all the decisions for us. We all have a say in this democracy Senator Reid. When you make statements like the one you made about voters of Hispanic heritage, it’s clear that you are not seeing we the people for who we are, what we stand for, and what we want for our country. It is clear that you are not taking our will into consideration.

Thank you for visiting here on Value Judgments. I look forward to your comments on this and future blogs.

A friend of mind said, “This is not JFK’s party anymore. If JFK were around today he would be a far right Republican.” That statement made me see how far we as a country have moved to the left, first with baby steps but more recently with giant ones. America has moved so far to the left, I suspect that people who have always identified themselves as “lifelong, hardcore Democrats” have not seen it happening. This is a shell game and the America we grew up in has been moved underneath a different shell.

Do you know why I am so sure of this? I look at myself, my family, my friends’ and all the other hard working Americans trying to support their families, instill the right values in their children, and provide for their children’s future. Our government, on the other hand, is so far to the left that their beliefs (as evidenced by the laws they are passing) show an absolute disconnect from the everyday American’s reality. The politicians currently in power appear to have no understanding of the people they are serving and what their core values are. Here you and I are, working our butts off and these people don’t care. They don’t have our backs. This is causing the uncertainty that is making people return to their roots. Once the media hype, division, and political games are stripped away, I believe most people’s core values are conservative. “Far left” is so far away from who most of us are as regular, working Americans who want a good life for our families.

So, why did I ever believe I was a Democrat in the first place? What did I see in this party that seemed to mirror my own beliefs and values?

You grow up thinking you want to be more progressive than your parents. This was especially true for me, as I was raised by very conservative, strictly religious parents. In addition, there were the reasons I listed earlier. This all looks good on paper. As a Latina, woman, lawyer, Californian, and all those other surface reasons, being a Democrat – a social progressive – would seem to make sense. Did the media fool me into thinking I’m a Democrat for these very reasons? Thanks to President Obama and these recent events coming out of Washington, I started asking myself these questions. I started questioning my true political identity. I realized that there are a lot of social values that I am liberal on. But when it comes to my family and the moral values that have always been most important to me, I am conservative.

You can be a Republican and believe in gay marriage and an ultra conservative while believing in immigrant rights. Politics is not an all or nothing game and don’t let anyone convince you that it is. If our politicians are truly bipartisan and in it for the democracy, they will work with us on every issue, whether it’s considered a Republican one or a Democrat one.

Overall, I think you get more conservative (and quickly) when you have children to set an example for, protect, and provide for. It becomes hard to do this when someone in the White House is not reflecting the values you are working so hard to teach your children, and creating financial restraints on your ability to provide for them.

It is personally heartbreaking for me to see that everything my parents worked for, especially while facing the challenge of legally coming into this country and creating their American Dream from scratch, is dwindling on a large scale. We need to be more conservative as a nation for the sake of our children’s future.

This isn’t just about me and my family either. Where do your values lie? We cannot go a second longer as citizens without examining our values. Which party’s core beliefs are most in line with yours? It does not have to be an exact match, but it does have to be an honest, thoroughly examined answer that comes from your heart. What are you and what will you do to protect that?

Thank you for visiting here on Value Judgments. I look forward to your comments on this and future blogs.