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Who Will Speak for the Mothers? Glenn Beck!

A mother of 12 attends a special taping by Glenn Beck for a mothers-only audience. She comes away inspired.

by
Barbara Curtis

Bio

September 29, 2009 - 12:21 am

Nancy from Jacksonville, Florida, a mother of three, in response to a MommyLife.net request for input on Glenn Beck:

I watch and love Glenn Beck because he’s honest. Because he doesn’t act like some pompous ass. Because he can put into words all the things I’m thinking but don’t know how to say. He can ask all the questions I am asking, but don’t know exactly how to ask. He’s had a hard life, he’s made some bad decisions … he’s normal … he’s not afraid to admit it when he’s wrong. I also like him because he’s funny. He knows how and when to be sarcastic to get a point across.

Liberals can’t stand him because he’s popular. Because his viewership is higher than all of the left/mainstream media put together. They have to find something wrong with him.

I think he’s a breath of fresh air even when politics is old and dusty and full of the same ol’, same ol’.

Nancy’s comment was one of many in response to my call for positive input on Glenn Beck for this article. He seems to have struck a chord among mothers who find him to be — among many other things — honest, respectful, “talking to his audience rather than at them or above them,” a straight shooter, “funny and logical at the same time,” and not pandering or beholden to any particular group or party. A compendium of attributes all conservatives would do well to emulate.

Let’s get one thing clear: I’m not a Glenn Beck groupie, though I’m very familiar with his work in my capacity as an alternative news source for mothers. While I don’t watch television news — even Fox News — thanks to readers I receive clips, review them, and run those that resonate. Glenn Beck’s frequently do.

As a longtime mommy blogger, my blog has unavoidably tilted so heavily towards politics for the past year that a passel of my passengers have jumped ship and have swum away as quickly as they can. Even so, my readership has grown — and grown and grown and grown — as mothers across the country realize that in addition to lunches, laundry, and lullabies we are being called to take a stand for our future and our families.

Sixty of us showed up last Thursday to tape a Glenn Beck special called “A Mother’s Challenge: A 9-12 Report.”

What I observed during the taping said a lot about who Glenn Beck is, what motivates him, and why ivory tower types — both left and right — will never get why he matters so much.

Unlike those who look down upon the masses — as well as those they consider to be the second tier of pundits, analysts, or commentators — Glenn Beck seems truly interested in what “the people” have to say. At this historic juncture, his reaching out to mothers is inspired.

For mothers who’ve been peacefully wrenched from their daily routine of caring for the needs of their families, schools, churches, and communities into a world of political activism — showing up at tea parties, calling representatives, or writing letters to the editor — to hear a famous figure announce that he is interested in what we have to say, especially when he has already established himself as sincere, is nothing short of sensational.

In preparation for the show, Beck asked us to send in our five most pressing concerns. And did we have a lot to say! Forty pages, to be exact — in the interest of time, this was consolidated into three major accusations made by mothers toward our current government:

1) They look to deprive children from being educated on authentic history.

2) They undermine parents’ rights.

3) They are killing our children’s future.

While the producers had worried beforehand about keeping the discussion lively (“Don’t be afraid to jump in! Glenn wants to hear from you!”) — they must have been amazed at how ready for bear we moms were. And how informed. Unlike liberals I encounter who still think it’s enough to slam a conservative with “U R Dum! LOL,” these mothers knew their stuff. Even with a daily avalanche of news poppers — czars, ACORN, the NEA (arts and education), school propaganda, UN treaties, the impending federal takeover of school loans — today’s conservative women are empowering themselves with the ins and outs of issues that they know threaten their daily reality.

While in the 60s the wake-up call was “the personal is the political,” today’s moms see that under a left-leaning government the political is the personal. Every government power grab has ramifications for our families’ security and autonomy. We must push back.

When your child’s school is pushing the sacred text I Am Barack Obama and teaching praise songs in his name rather than His name, you know it’s time to come out of the closet no matter what is waiting outside. The good news is that when moms do, they are often pleasantly surprised. One mother spoke of going alone to an April tea party and meeting two mothers of her child’s classmates. All had been closet conservatives and now are activists: “The Sisterhood of the Mommy Patriots.”

Beck’s show will do a lot to connect these moms across the nation. Beck also challenges viewers — “Do these look like crazy people?” — to acknowledge that we are not an angry mob but everyday people of all colors who’ve looked a little harder at what’s going on in Washington and who fear for the future of our country and our children.

Beck did something that day that I have never seen an elitist conservative do. He acknowledged the absolutely unique position held by mothers. He gave us credit for our part in shaping the grassroots movement to stop Obama’s Contract on America. He really, truly cared what we had to say. And he affirmed that in our power and energy there was hope for the future.

In addition, he was passionate in defending us against those who would hurt us with their stereotyping and ugly rhetoric. You could see he would go to any length — even making himself look foolish — to get people to recognize the truth.

This is the side of Glenn Beck that ivory tower conservatives would find embarrassing and alarming. His genius is in his making himself completely vulnerable, a slave to the truth he wants us to see.

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” It’s because I have a feeling that the coming revolution — and I’m talking here of a cultural revolution played out at the ballot box — will give proof to that spiritual wisdom that I believe that Glenn Beck is in the right place doing the right thing at the right time.

Thank God he doesn’t need the approval of those who see themselves above the fray, as we need him in the trenches.

Barbara Curtis is a wife, mother of 12, and author of nine books, including Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You. Visit her at www.barbaracurtis.com or at her blog www.MommyLife.net. Her fourth son will begin Marines OCS in January.
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