New PD Post - "9/11 No Longer About Fear of Flying"

What to say after my L-O-N-G absence, except to say that I am back, and happy to be so! I would love it if you'd take a look at what I posted today on Politics Daily, where I'm back to blogging after a two-month hiatus following the death of my dad. This one is on the legacy of 9/11, it being that date, though a cold, dreary, rainy one in Washington, nothing like the clear skies we had eight years ago.

Lessons on War We Can't Seem to Learn

On Sunday night, Julia and I went with my lifelong friend Camille to the National Memorial Day Concert held on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where her husband Robert McDuffie, a world-renowned solo violinist, played with the National Symphony Orchestra. The annual event was celebrating its 20th anniversary, but the last time I went was for Bobby's previous gig there, nine years ago, when he paid tribute to Schindler's List and his music and accompanying slide show moved me--embarrassingly, I have to say--to sobs.

This time, with Julia, who was wearing hand-me-down red patent leather shoes that are at least three sizes too big for her (but suitably fancy in her mind for the occasion), I kept my liquid emotions in check. 

But I found the whole thing wrenching nonetheless. There we were, with a picnic spread out on the baby blankets Julia had on insisted on bringing, on a beautiful night on the Capitol grounds--the same spot where I watched Barack Obama's inauguration. The Capitol dome was lit up behind us. The top of the Washington Monument stretched above the tree line in the distance ahead. It must be where I go for doses of patriotism.

 

Except that what I was feeling wasn't pride in my country. It was sorrow and disappointment. I couldn't help but remember that nearly a decade ago when we were there, the concept of our country at war was neatly tucked away in the past whereas this time, we were honoring the nearly  5,000 soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq and the thousands more who are injured in wars that are ongoing as I write. 

Part of the show was a tribute to the mother and sister of one such infantryman, who, when their son and brother was returned to the States with part of his head blow away, moved into Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Md., giving up their jobs and homes to nurse him back to what, in his case, passes for health.

Then Colin Powell spoke, telling us that there are 10,000 adults who have given up their lives to care for their wounded adult children. And if not for them, he reminded us, they would be in Veterans' Hospitals--"or worse, homeless." Nevermind that Powell seemed an unlikely source for this information. Shouldn't our VA Hospitals be like 5-star hotels after what we've put these men and women and their families through?

Flag-waving and pool openings have long become the substance if not the soul of Memorial Day--an updated version of the men, women, and children who dressed in their finery and went out to picnic at Chancellorsville, Va, spectators to one of the early battles of the Civil War that unfolded in the fields beneath them. Not a lot has changed.

New PD Post - Washington Not Having Food Fights But Fighting Bad Food

I snuck out of a forum on education featuring Education Secretary Arne Duncan today to go to a talk given by New York Times Minimalist columnist Mark Bittman and Washington-based chef Jose Andres about eating better to save not just ourselves but also the planet. It pretty much goes without saying that I wrote a PD post on the food panel ahead of anything I might write later on Duncan (who was compelling) and the allocation of resources in education. In my short life as an education reporter, I have come to understand that most of the statistics are not rosy. And if a nation moves on its belly, as Napolean said, there's no reason why a blogger shouldn't, too. 

The events were put on by the Center for American Progress, and the best part was that Ralph was also working at both, so whenever I got tired of trying to focus my new progressive eyeglasses on the words, "Center for American Progress," I would watch him take pictures. Afterward, he took me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Black Salt. 

I'm pleased to say that after listening to Bittman urge the audience to eat less meat, I ordered a crab cake. But I realize that that's only a partial victory, because, as the head of P.R. for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) once told me when I interviewed him for U.S.News, "Fish are not swimming vegetables." 

Next time, I guess it's seaweed salad for me.

Now on Politics Daily - The Last Word on Women's Ability

Please take a look at my latest post on Politics Daily, about negative stereotypes for women. Thanks!

Parenting Advice from Goldie Hawn

Speaking of teachable moments, I'm not one to think that Hollywood stars are the best source of parenting advice. But I told a friend who has worked with a lot of actors that I thought Goldie Hawn, whom I interviewed last week for a PD story on a mindfulness program she started in schools, was wise. She said that she kept running into smart ones--Hawn, Meg Ryan, and someone I can't remember--and marveling, until finally she realized that just because they can act doesn't mean they can't think. Point taken.

I caught up with Hawn on a particularly vulnerable parenting day in our house. After what we thought was incredibly bad behavior on Sam's part, we gave him the maximum sentence: we forbade him from playing in that day's T-ball game--a double-whammy, since (1) Ralph is his coach and (2) Sam's dedication to baseball and the Muckdogs, his team, surpasses his dedication to God and country. But that morning he had grabbed a ball away from Julia, and, when called on it, he walked away, down the hill by himself to school. When Ralph caught up with him, Sam rounded out the episode by hitting his dad. 

When I asked Hawn what she'd learned as a mother, she said:

"If I have the intention to be happy as a mother, then my zest is rubbed off on the children. Being a joyful parent is actually choosing your battles. Be the best of you, and don't let them get the best of you."

She went on to say that getting angry should mean something:

"I would get angry if they weren't kind. If they lied, that was a felony. If they cursed in the house."

After that, I felt better about punishing Sam so strongly. It didn't keep him from misbehaving the next day, or the day after that, but I've come to believe that much of parenting is about conditioning your child so that small mistakes don't become nasty habits and good habits, like doing your homework and sitting down to dinner every night with your family, take root. But the process of parenting--well, that's more about educating me than him. 

Cell Phones: For Talking On, Not About

I have a friend who used to say that conversations about flight delays and last night's dreams were off-limits, because everyone has them, and they're not nearly as interesting to your listener as they are to you. To the list of verboten topics, I would add stories about technological glitches.

Still, I can't resist telling you that I've been in cell-phone hell for the past few days. After my well-worn iPhone fell into the toilet the other day (don't ask), I had to pull my back-up iPhone out of my drawer (don't ask) to reactivate it. This was not as simple as it sounds, because these things never are. But taking a page from the Obamas, as columnist Jill Lawrence points out on PD today, the rep at the AT & T store tried to turn the whole experience into a teachable moment. When I explained how my phone came to be water-logged, she said, "They don't swim."

And I thought they did.

Have You Read Politics Daily Today?

Friends of FTITN,

I'm having a great time covering education for Politics Daily. Please take a look at it, especially my Q & A with DC School Chancellor Michelle Rhee and my most recent post on Goldie Hawn and leave a comment!