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My HLN Panel at the Republican National Convention

September 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

I got to go on zee teevee last week. On a cable news network. THE Cable News Network. Well … kinda. I was on the Headline News channel, otherwise known as HLN, previously known as CNN2.

Funny side note: I didn’t know that HLN stood for Headline News until someone said they saw me on Headline News. I said, “Aww, thanks! But it was Evening Express on HLN that I was on.” And then the very kind friend gently asked me what HLN stood for. Sometimes, my blond roots show, mmmkay?

Anyway. I got to go on a real live television show, and I don’t know how many people watched it live, aside from Ashley and me, but I know at least a dozen of my friends have watched it on the internets. Because I have at least a dozen friends that are awesome enough to sit down and watch me chat about partisan politics with Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Republican delegate and Mormon BYU biology professor Laura Bridgewater, CafeMom.com host Lindsay Ferrier, and HLN’s Kyra Phillips.

Because that totally happened.

Impressions

Kyra surprised me the most. She’s spent over a decade with CNN, and through the magic of Google, I found out that she sometimes goes after social issues. I was expecting her to tolerate us Republican chicks at best, but I had my talking points reay and my smile in place.

When I met her, I pleasantly surprised to find a warm, laidback host that seemed to genuinely want to have a real discussion about the Romney’s and the election. Once the cameras were rolling, I was still half expecting a couple of ‘gotcha’ questions – most likely over gay marriage or abortion.

Nope! The discussion centered around the economy, which most Americans agree is the number one issue right now. I could see Kyra’s brain trying to wrap itself around some of our answers when asked why we women (moms!) support Mitt Romney. I love when people keep an open mind to other people’s convictions, so add another point to the I Like Kyra column.

Lindsay was great too. I’ve been working with her on Moms Matter 2012 over at CafeMom.com since the end of last year, and she’s a total pro. It was fabulous to finally meet her in person.

Representative Blackburn was also a delight. She didn’t know it, but she was a huge inspiration to me after I heard her speak at Smart Girl Summit in 2009. That was my first political convention as a blogger, and I loved what she had to say about how much moms can rock the world. Plus she thanked me for doing what I do out there on the internet on a daily basis. That was awesome.

I’d never met Laura before, but I was glad to get to know her. She spoke of faith and family, and how Mitt Romney has shown a commitment to both, and how that will be translated into a commitment to get our economy back on track.

Overall, it was super fun, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, and I’m soooooo glad that we got to talk about real issues, rather than that tool Todd Akin.

 

Here’s the condensed version played by HLN:

 

And the full version from CafeMom.com:

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Filed Under: 2012, 30 Things, Abortion, Media, Politicians, RNC, Smart Girl Politics ·

Eavesdropping on Jenny & Ashley September 6, 2012

September 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ashley and I chat about the DNC, Ted Cruz, Jason Mattera, and more. Always more. ;-)

Listen to internet radio with Top 7 on Blog Talk Radio

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Filed Under: Eavesdropping on Jenny & Ashley, Politicians · Tagged With: , , ,

Eavesdropping on Jenny & Ashley August 22, 2012

August 23, 2012 by 2 Comments

Ashley and I chatted about the weather, Amtrak, the California economy (real unemployment in the Golden State is over 20%), Akin and legitimate rape, ‘Oiho,’ Mormons and drinking, and of course nekkid Prince Harry in Vegas.

Listen to internet radio with Top 7 on Blog Talk Radio

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Filed Under: California, Eavesdropping on Jenny & Ashley, Economy, Obama, Personal, Politicians · Tagged With: ,

Top 7 for the Week of June 29th

June 29, 2012 by 2 Comments

This week, Ashley and I talked about:

  1. Obamacare ObamaTax
  2. Eric Holder: Attorney General Fail
  3. Another Government’Backed Solar Company Bites the Dust
  4. DC Schools Prove Money Doesn’t Fix What’s Broke
  5. NAACP: Poor People Are Too Dumb To Make Their Own Choices
  6. Google Cookies Diss Your Privacy
  7. Food Stamps Are Fun! (And Make You Pretty)

Plus we have a rant, a Dude of the Week, and a dirty joke guaranteed to make you laugh.

Happy listening!

Listen to internet radio with Top 7 on Blog Talk Radio

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Filed Under: Celebrities, Common Sense, Constitutional Originalism, Economy, Education, Elections, Energy, Environmentalism, Equality, Gun Control, Gun Rights, Healthcare, Mitt Romney, Nanny State, National security, Obama, Politicians, Supreme Court, Taxes, Top 7 with Jenny & Ashley, Unions, Welfare · Tagged With: ,

Verbal Vomit on Supreme Court’s Obamacare Ruling

June 28, 2012 by 2 Comments

So the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was ruled constitutional today, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with the libs on the bench. I mean, even wishy-washy Kennedy voted to strike down the individual mandate.

I was sleeping in a little this morning, because it’s summer and also because I stayed up too late watching Doctor Who on my ipad last night, when Leif came over and nudged me awake before he set off for work. He was so awesome and sweet and told me I was pretty and that he loved me. Then I realized what day it was. Obamacare Decision Day.

“Oh no! You know, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He stroked my hair.

“It’s not good, is it?”

“Nope.” He gazed lovingly at me.

“Give it to me straight.”

“Constitutional. Roberts wrote the majority opinion.”

“Whaaaa….?”

“I know. They’re calling it a tax, and therefore Congress has the power to levy it.”

Gah.

So then I did what any chick that works in social media does and took to Twitter to voice my thoughts. Because do opinions matter if they’re not posted on a social networking site? Didn’t think so.

Here are my original tweets, with commentary added in the parentheses:

Ok. Reaction. 1-I feel like throwing up. Apparently it’s Constitutional to tax me for breathing. (It’s possible I was slightly hung over. But I did feel punched in the gut.)

2- WTF, Justice Roberts?? You are no longer my 3rd favorite. (Favorite is Scalia. Second is Thomas. Third is now up for grabs. Probably Alito.)

3- Roberts is a VERY smart man. What’s he playing? (Seriously, Justice Roberts – WTF?)

4- I think I’m going to be sick. (Again, possibly from that last glass of wine last night, but this Obamacare standing thing wasn’t helping.)

5- Well, this pretty much guarantees a President Romney, huh? (Le sigh.)

6- Aaaaaand I’m back to being sick. (Can I vote for Ann instead? I like her better. Sorry, Mitt.)

7- I’m going back to bed. *Pulls covers over her head*

Then I realized I had to get up and write and comment because if I don’t, I don’t get paid, and health care costs are about to skyrocket. And you know, personal responsibility and all that jazz.

So I officially turned in my two cents to The Stir, where I’m sure commenters will call me a racity racist for agreeing with the black man on the bench (Clarence Thomas, Second Favorite). I’m not quite sure how that works, but it seems that whenever the haters disagree with me about something I get called a racist. Get some better insults, people! Racist is so 2009.

Anyway, my friend Matt Cover (say Co-ver, not like the blanket) pointed out, “Roberts DOES NOT say that anything that looks like a tax is ok, only that this provision is a tax, and therefore ok.” Ok … I can see that. I still don’t like it.

I also read this from Erick Erickson (no relation), wherein he makes the case that, “While Roberts has expanded the taxation power, which I don’t really think is a massive expansion from what it was, Roberts has curtailed the commerce clause as an avenue for Congressional overreach. In so doing, he has affirmed the Democrats are massive taxers.”

They are massive taxers. And Obama ran on that whole “no tax increases for the middle class” thing. Not looking good for him this November. Or for other politicians that supported this behemoth of a bill without even reading the frickin’ thing.

Go donate to the Romney campaign. Seriously, use that link, because I get some sort of credit for referring you. Maybe I can win a stuffed seal like I did that time I sold 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in third grade!

And watch Ben Howe’s latest video featuring a compilation of Obama clips insisting that this is not a tax.

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Filed Under: 2012, Broken Promises, Constitutional Originalism, Economy, Elections, Healthcare, Liar Liar Pants on Fire, Mitt Romney, Nanny State, Obama, Politicians, Supreme Court, Taxes, The Stir · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Thing 1 Just Says No to Dog Meat

April 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was reading this article from Mark Steyn about the exploding attack tactics being used by the Obama campaign against Mitt Romney. They tried to say that women wouldn’t like Romney because his great-grandfather was a polygamist, but somehow overlooked the fact that Barak Obama’s father was a polygamist.

Side note: Why liberals are down with gay marriage but not polygamy confuses the heck out of me. Isn’t that discrimination? Shouldn’t consenting adults be allowed to marry whomever they want to?

Another hypocritical criticism of Romney came when the Obama people decided to cry foul over the fact that the Romney family apparently strapped their crated dog to the roof of the car for a road trip in 1983. Then the fabulous Jim Treacher blogged on the Daily Caller that Obama had, as a child, eaten dog meat.

Better the roof of the car, then the roof of the mouth, Jim astutely pointed out.

The “Obama eats dog” meme has exploded on the Internets, because, well, it’s just so gosh darn hilarious to make fun of it. Dog recipes, anyone? Hall & Oates lyrics changed from Maneater to Dogeater? Brilliant.

Some people (I’m look at you, Leif!) don’t think the thing is funny. There are so many other issues to talk about — this is just stupid. The above linked article from Steyn does a good job laying out exactly why we should be laughing about it: It contrasts the comic value of the situation with the ridiculous seriousness that those on the left take themselves. We laugh; they form a Dogs Against Romney PAC.

He writes:

The exploding cigars are revealing not merely of Democratic hypocrisy but of a key difference in worldview between liberals and conservatives. Jeremy Funk and Governor Schweitzer reflexively believe that their dog-eating polygamy-scion is different from the other guy’s dog-transporting polygamy-scion. This is nothing to do with young Barack being six or ten years old and meekly eating whatever was put in front of him. He was 34 years old when he wrote the passage quoted above and ten years older when he recorded the audio edition. And, as both versions make plain, he thinks it’s kinda cool, and he knows that to the average upscale white liberal it has the electric frisson of the exotic other.

Earlier in the article, Steyn had mentioned dog breeder Kate McMillan, who said the following of the criticism that you can’t blame a child for eating what’s put in front of him:

Try this experiment–sit a normal, American 6 year old down at a plate and tell him it’s dog meat. Watch what happens.

With that inspiration, I grabbed my iphone and recorded this video of my eight-year-old daughter:

After establishing the fact that the girl is a regular carnivore, I asked if she would eat dog meat. She shakes her head and I ask her why that is.

“Because I would think of eating Junie’s* friends … and plus it sounds gross.”

*Furbaby’s real name is June. I guess that cat is out of the bag.

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Filed Under: 2012, Common Sense, Equality, Just for Fun, Leif, Media, Mitt Romney, Obama, Parenting, Politicians, Red vs. Blue · Tagged With: , , ,

Politics in Action at the 2012 AAPC Pollie Awards

April 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was in Austin for a few days, attending the 2012 American Association of Political Consultants Pollie Awards and annual conference. Remember a few weeks ago when I went to San Francisco and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to talk with the California Republican Party (CRP) ‘establishment’?

Yeah, that was a walk in the park in terms of comfort zones compared to this shindig. This is the kind of event that honors James Carville. In fact, it’s the exact kind of event that honors James Carville, because the Ragin’ Cajun was inducted into the AAPC Hall of Fame, alongside Paul Begoda and Karl Rove. Eclectic group, huh?

At grassroots/activist events, the conference goers are all on fire for America, because … the Constitution! I love these people. They are my homeys. At the CRP thing in San Francisco, I mostly saw the same sort of the thing, just with titles like ‘GOP County Chair’ instead of ‘Beginner Blogger.’ I won’t pretend to equate that with all CRP things, and I especially can’t speak for GOP events in other states. I’m guessing the GOP varies greatly from California to Texas to New York to Vermont.

Republicans in Vermont. *snort*

Anyway. This was a whole new ballgame. These were … political consultants. What the heck do political consultants do? They help candidates win. Well, the good ones do, anyway.

It would be awesome if elections and campaigns were all about the message, the integrity of the candidate, and doing what’s best for our communities and country as a whole. The reality is, as my friend Brittany Cohan likes to say, is that politics is a game.

Only one thing wins elections – votes. Elections are number games. How many registered voters are in the constituency? How many voters intend to vote this cycle? How have they voted in the past? Can their vote be counted on? What’s it going to take to win the votes? It doesn’t matter if you’re the second coming yourself, if you don’t get the votes, you don’t win the election.

If politics is a game, and the candidate is the starting pitcher or the star quarterback, then the consultant is the coach. That’s a pretty loose analogy, especially given my (extremely) limited knowledge of sports, but it’s just something to give you a little bit of a picture of what happens in campaigns.

Maybe the candidate is the team owner … someone is going to have to help me out with my sports analogies…

The consultants analyze the numbers and come up with a strategy to win the votes. That’s why Karl Rove is always going on Fox News with his whiteboard and talking numbers. I’ve always understood that this is how it works, but it was cool to watch the really real professionals at work.

Because I was in Austin, Ashley Sewell drove in from Fort Worth. Because, duh, it’s Jenny and Ashley. Since Ms. Sewell and I were together in Texas, our favorite former Texas Railroad Commissioner and current congressional candidate Michael Williams met us for drinks. Since I was in Austin in the first place because Justin Hart brought me out to do some social media stuff and meet with some people, he joined up with us too. Then Justin’s CEO Ravi Singh stopped by to say hello, and he got to talking to Michael about his campaign.

Ravi’s company, ElectionMall, does this really cool Campaign Cloud thing. They got together with Microsoft to create this service that organizes campaign tools (social media, blast emails, donor lists, etc.), and makes them accessible through one login. They pretty much rule when it comes to managing campaign technology.

The conversation went something like this:

“Tell me about the race – what’s the seat?”

“U.S. Congress. District 33.”

“What’s the breakdown?”

“New seat. One of the four that Texas picked up in the census. The area voted for McCain in 2008.”

“How many candidates?”

“Eleven.”

“Ouch.”

“I know.”

“Ok, well how many votes do you need to win?”

Then they talked about some different strategies to get the vote out, how they could win over the independents, and how they could get sometimes voters to commit to going to the polls on Election Day. It was totally fascinating to watch, and a good reminder that if we want to win races and send conservative politicians to Washington, we have to play the game.

We need more than solid candidates. We need effective strategies and tools to gain supporters and get them to the polls on Election Day. That’s how we win.

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Filed Under: 2012, Adventures, Elections, Politicians, Red vs. Blue · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Twitter Fun & Creepiness with #ILikeObamacare & #Gen44

March 25, 2012 by 7 Comments

On Friday, I had a lot of fun on Twitter with the #ILikeObamacare hashtag initiated by Team Obama to celebrate the second anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). As predicted, conservatives took over the thread, offering sarcastic reasons for why they liked Obamacare.

Here are some tweets that I sent out, just to give you a feeling for the game:

Because crappy care for all is better than excellent care for ANYONE willing to pay their bills. #ILikeObamacare

Because people w/ weight problems should have their care limited. Just like in Britain. #ILikeObamacare

#ILikeObamacare Because the DMV is AWESOME.

One of my favorite tweets I saw was from my friend Jon Gabriel, who said, “#ILikeObamacare because a guy who can’t even protect a Twitter hashtag thread should be great at protecting my health.”

Then I got caught up in life getting ready for Thing 2’s birthday on Saturday, driving Thing 1 to and from a birthday party, and hosting an impromptu dinner party, because hey, why not?

Way too much fun was had at dinner Friday night, so I woke up with a fairly wicked hangover on Saturday morning. Whoops. All of my energy went into making Thing 2’s morning at the farmer’s market special, wrapping presents, and generally showering her with birthday love.

I finally hopped on Twitter yesterday evening to see what was going on, and I noticed a new hashtag flying by: #Gen44. So I asked my followers what the deal was, and they said it was the latest fail from Team Obama. I forced myself over to www.BarackObama.com, where I learned that Gen44 is the under-40 demographic.

So what’s the deal with the 44?

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. I felt slightly nauseated. So I tweeted, “I threw up in my mouth a little upon discovering that Obama has named my generation after himself. #gen44”

Seriously, you guys, this is not cool. This dude is so egotistical and out of touch with reality that it’s kinda scary. Obama wants us under-40s to volunteer our time, efforts, and cash to “ensure that President Obama and Democrats have the resources and infrastructure needed to implement the change we believe in.”

A movement shouldn’t be about a leader; it should focus on a cause. How do we know what President Obama really feels or wants for our country? He is always saying one thing and doing another. No one knows where he stands on anything. Why would an entire generation place their faith and trust in one man, and even refer to themselves by his moniker?

What does the president mean when he says we need to ensure that he has the resources needed to bring about change? What kind of change? What happened to compromise, and all that across-the-aisle stuff they’re always touting? Is Obama saying that Gen44 needs to rally together to obliterate the Republicans? That sounds a bit totalitarian, if you ask me.

I am not comfortable handing over resources to one person so that they can ‘change things’ and ‘take care of me.’ I’d rather my president step back, rein in the government from interfering with my life and finances, and trust me to make the best decisions for myself and my family.

I am not Gen44. I am Generation Independent.

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Filed Under: 2012, Generation Me, Obama, Politicians, Red vs. Blue · Tagged With: , , ,

Back by Popular Request: Elsewhere On the Internet…

February 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

I stopped doing weekly round-up posts a couple of months ago because I was sporadic at best, and honestly, I didn’t think the interest was there. But I’ve gotten tons of requests for them recently, so I decided to resurrect them. The majority of my weekly articles are usually published by Thursday, so I’m marking Thursday on my Google calendar as Elsewhere On the Internet Day.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

This Week at The Stir:

I wrote about author Charles Murray and his ‘elitist bubble’ concept published in his new book, Coming Apart, The State of White America, 1960-2012. I scored a 37. I think that number, like my age and my weight, is just a number.

Apparently food stamps are going to fix the economy. They’re going to fix it so well that the government is giving out $75,000 grants to groups that devise ways to sign more people up for food stamps.

This one on Susan G. Komen defunding Planned Parenthood got such a hateful reaction that Mark Davis’s producer Susan contacted me to be on the show tomorrow morning to talk about it. Some people are just mean. If you’d like to listen in, I’ll be on at 7:04 Pacific, which means I’ll be locked in the garage or something while poor Leif wrangles the kids to get ready for school. I love you, Honey!

The Latest on Moms Matter:

This State of the Union Analysis is technically from last week, but seeing as CafeMom hasn’t posted this week’s article yet, I thought I’d include it anyway. Hey, it’s my site, I can post what I want to! :-)  (Even emoticons!)

What Happened on Glee:

Glee was new this week, which means I shut everyone out of my bedroom at 8pm on Tuesday to watch high school musical drama, write about it, and call it ‘work.’ My job kinda rocks. I ended up talking more about my marriage than the show though.

 

Happy reading!

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Filed Under: Abortion, Big Hollywood, breasts and stuff, Capitalism, Elections, Feminism, Marriage, Nanny State, Obama, Politicians, The Stir, Weekly Roundup · Tagged With: , , ,

Guess Who Was On the Really Real Radio? Hint: It Was Me.

January 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I got to spend Friday afternoon hanging out in Hugh Hewitt’s office. His radio office, that is, not his law office, which I have no desire to visit as I hope to never need a trial attorney. But if I did, I’d try to get Hugh Hewitt to represent me, because dang that dude is smart.

But I’d rather not need a trial lawyer.

Anyway. I got to bum around the recording studio for the Hugh Hewitt Show, which was being guest-hosted that day by my friend Larry O’Connor. Friday morning, when I was in the middle of doing Top 7 with Ashley, Larry pinged me to ask if I wanted to do a segment on the show. Um, hello, yes please.

So I said something along the lines of, “YEESSSSS!!!” and then told him that next time he hosted to give me some notice because I wouldn’t mind driving up to LA to go in-studio. Larry told me that it was Irvine, not LA, and I had an invitation. Irvine is way closer to San Diego than LA. It just so happened that Leif was working from home, so I didn’t have to worry about the kids, and I asked him if he minded if I went, and he said, “Go! Be smart. Be funny. Be cute. Be you.”

Side note – I love that man.

Wrapped up Top 7, hopped in the shower, did some quick hair and make-up, then hit the road. When I got there, it was 2:55, and the show started at 3. I called Larry to find out where exactly I was going, and he came out to get me, and then we RAN back to the studio, where he fell into the chair behind the mic just in time to start hosting a nationally syndicated talk radio show.

Sometimes my timing is impeccable.

Hugh wasn’t there, but his crew was, and it was lovely to meet them. I’ve been following his producer Duane Patterson for a while on Twitter, but I didn’t think he’d have any clue who I was, because really, why would he?

“Hi, I’m Jenny! Nice to meet you!”

“Duane,” he said, shaking my hand, and then added with a wink and a smile, “This is Salem. You can’t say dipsh!t on air.”

In case you didn’t know (and I didn’t until last summer), Salem is the Christian broadcasting network that runs The Hugh Hewitt Show. And on Thursday night, Duane had been on Larry’s regular Internet radio show. And Thursday is when I do my weekly Quickie with Jenny on The Larry O’Connor Show. And I had said that particular cuss word on that particular show, which is actually pretty unusual for me. I rarely cuss on air or in print, saving those words for the most impact when the situation calls for it. It totally called for it on Thursday.

So now I’m apparently the girl that says dipsh!t on the radio. But I do know better than to do that on a Salem drive time show. Give me some credit, Duane!

It was all kinds of awesome watching the behind the scenes stuff … Adam with the hand signals from the room with all kinds of technical-looking equipment, Duane with the 30-second warnings in the headphones, Larry forgetting to push the button to bring a caller on, because he’s used to his producer Meredith Dake doing that for him … it was very cool.

During the second hour, a real-live congressman came in for a live interview, and I got to sit right next to him. Representative John Campbell was a peach, and it makes me happy that there are people like him in Congress. When he came in, Larry introduced me as a Mom Blogger, which is basically what I am, which also means that while I was listening to the show in Hugh Hewitt’s office, I was on my laptop tweeting, chatting in the Hughniverse chat room, and taking notes for an article I have due Monday morning on the whole Newt vs. Mitt thing since that’s what they were talking about.

When we cut to break, Congressman Campbell looked over at me and asked, “I don’t mean to be nosey, but what are you doing over there?”

‘This? This is what I do. Talk to people on Twitter and in chat rooms. Write stuff. I’m going to be on the radio in the next hour, I do that too. I. Love. My. Job.”

Then we talked about Twitter a little bit more, and I told him he should use it more to communicate, and also warned him against ever sending DMs, because as Anthony Weiner knows, sometimes you mess up and send pictures of your junk out to the world instead of as a DM. It’s better to just avoid it if you’re a public figure.

Then again, John Campbell doesn’t seem like the type to do that anyway.

So I finally got to go on the radio with Larry, and what did I end up saying?

“I’ve been lobbying my husband for a sister wife.”

“Newt makes my eye twitch.”

“She insists on looking like a dude, and I don’t understand it.” 

Clearly, I am a ridiculous person. But y’all already knew that, right?

Happy listening!

Jenny on Hugh

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Filed Under: 2012, Feminism, Just for Fun, Leif, Media, Personal, Politicians · Tagged With: , , , ,
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