Mother's Day

I've been thinking today of my mother. Actually, both of my parents, but mostly my mother. It is, after all, Mother's Day. I'm thankful for the strength that she has given me or I never would have gotten through this trial of the last year. My mother is a very strong woman. She's a cancer survivor, too. It's been almost 12 years for her. She's a nurse, retired now. She taught me now to turn clinical in an emergency. I've used that with medical emergencies with my children. There was the time my oldest choked on fried eggs in his spider walker; the time my youngest threw himself down and cut his lip, swallowed I don't know how many things. My youngest is ADHD. We've spent our fair share of time in the emergency room. And I've seen lots of Doctors' offices with my oldest having a heart condition. Mom being a nurse gave me the foundation to understand all the doctor talk.

My parents were also Democrats. Not today's Democrats, mind you, but what Democrats used to be. You see, time was, a Democrat was just a Patriot of a different color. They still loved their country, they just had a different idea of how to run the government. They still wanted a Republic....mostly. I was taught basically the same thing growing up. A Democracy is when everybody gets to vote on everything. That's not really practical when you have as many people living in a country as we have, so we elect officials to do it for us. That way we get to live our lives instead of being involved in government every single day. I didn't really know the difference between Republican and Democrat growing up. Dad always said the Republicans were for big business and the Democrats were for the little guy. I'm learning that that wasn't really true, but more on that later.

I got into politics in the mid 1980's. I joined the Navy in 1984. I know in the mock-elections in 1976 in my school, I voted for Jimmy Carter. I don't remember who I voted for in 1980. I think I voted Democrat. I know that I voted for Reagan in 1988, and every election after that. But, I have to admit to being a Yellow Dog Democrat, and just voting the R behind the name just as badly as my parents were voting the D behind their candidates.

I have decided that I am so mad at this current administration, no so much that they are Democrats, but because they aren't. I have never been mad that my guy didn't win. My parents' guy did, if mine didn't. I just went on with life. But these guys are lying to my parents now. They're saying they're Democrats when they're actually Socialists and Marxists. They dis-ing my parents. I don't take to that too well. They've been lying for a long time, though. They're not for the little man. They're the elite, and they use the little man, and lie to him so that he'll vote for him. They are the ones who want big government, and the Republicans are the ones who want little government. Yes, the Republicans are for businesses, so therefore they want government as small as possible to stay out of it. Small government also helps the little man, too.

So, to my mom, and to all the moms out there, Happy Mother's Day. I hope the government can stay out of it.

Lori Ann Smith