About Slamming the Roberts Kids

[smartvoter]

I've seen several slams on them from the photo that was floated yesterday.

I know that it's easy to lose perspective and even easier to slip over a line in an anonymous Internet board, but picking on those kids is not right.

We are better than that.

-----------

On edit: Yes, I have seen some slams on the kids. I'm not talking about the general comments or curiosity that make up the bulk of it. Last night I saw a couple of posts in particular that were waaaayyy over the line and it's been bothering me because this type of behavior is what I hate from the other side, so I posted this.

Let's put it this way. If you look at this and think I'm wrong, it probably wasn't directed at you.

[Dora]

1. I agree, and it's a waste of energy.

Come on, people. We should be using our barbs and snark on people our own size, or at least over the age of 18.

[ArkDem]

2. We are?

:wow:

[ogradda]

3. I didn't see that.

I agree that's uncalled for. Aren't they 4 and 5?

[Elidor]

4. You need to be more specific

Are you objecting to statements that their mother dresses them funny? Or to the statements that the boy is ill-behaved?

[Skidmore]

21. I object to those AND to the thread where someone

actually proposed to research the circumtances surrounding their adoption to come up with personal dirt on their father. These children will experience enough surrounding the status of being adopted in life without the contribution of some who would use this for political points. Deal with Roberts on his record or lack thereof, his political views, his relationship to * and his clan, but leave those little kids alone.

[Elidor]

22. So it's no longer PC to point out an ill-behaved child on national TV?

Ridiculous. Researching their adoption is beyond the pale, but to say that it isn't proper comment on the behavior of a child is preposterous.

[rinsd]

42. It was PC to do so before?

When was it proper to comment on a very young child's public behavior as a negative reflection of the parenting skills of Mom and Dad?

[eallen]

5. Second that.

[Bleacher Creature]

6. Two points:

First, you're right. Slamming his kids is over the line.

Second, when toddlers are dressed up like little Stepford children, I'd say it's a fair bet that the parents' dressed them like that. If those kids turn out to be normal (though they don't have much of a chance w/two fundie whacko parents), they're going to be mighty pissed that they were see in public like that.

[formernaderite]

46. You're naeive if you believe only fundies dress their kids like that...

the same look can be seen on well-heeled dems kids all over town.

[KG]

7. too much attention was paid to the kids. not their fault they're brats.

but his wife on the other hand - whoa, that hairdo was positively frightful!

[Bleacher Creature]

10. You can't blame her for her hairdo.

She's too busy saving women from their own bad choices over at "Feminists for Life" to worry about such trivial matters as her appearance.

[KG]

12. you're so right. i should be ashamed of myself!

but i'm not! :) :hi:

[Bleacher Creature]

13. You're just jealous . . .

that you don't have the chance to do God's work with the wife from Everybody Loves Raymond ;)

[barbaraann]

8. Some of us were picking on the parents' lack of control.

That's different from picking on the children. I think the children are adorable but their behavior was inappropriate and that is the parents' fault.

[realFedUp]

9. The kids are cute

I don't see slams...I see interest in what makes
this guy and his wife tick...the backstory...is
this a second marriage for one or both, why did
they adopt two kids rumored to be from another country,
both blond, what are their priorities, intents,
goals, interests...the stuff that fills out a person.

When you don't have a lot on a judge's record...
you find out more about the way they live.
And as we know, everything is fair game, except
when it comes to the limits this administration
decides for itself.

A guaranteed lifetime appointment, not given
to many people, shouldn't be a political gift
for favors done. And everything should be known
about a nominee...including the process of
adopting these kids.

[sandnsea]

11. Nobody slammed the kids

Why is it that people don't understand the difference between parents and kids. :shrug: Don't get it. Don't get why anybody would want to misinterpret the remarks that way either. Hidden agendas?

[smartvoter]

16. Not talking about that stuff. nt

[China_cat]

19. I have to agree

and compare it to the flap caused when Amy Carter was allowed to read a book at the table during a state dinner. It was inappropriate and her parents were wrong to allow it.

The child was inappropriate (a very mild word for biting your mother) and the parents deserve criticism for allowing it.

I'm old enough to remember the Kennedy kids in the White House, the Johnson and Nixon daughters and behavior like that was never seen.

It may not be right, it may not be fair, but if you can't instill public behavior in your own kids...or leave them at home with the nanny...you have no right being a judge responsible for deciding how other people can act.

[DELUSIONAL]

27. That brat's behavior is a SYMPTOM of something

worse going on in that family -- which tells me that Roberts is probably not a very nice person.

It seems to me that Mr. Roberts and wife managed to adopt two kids -- as symbols -- the kids are raised by nannies --

When you see a kid acting like that -- at such an important event -- that means take a closer look at the parents.

And never forget that Roberts is the ass-hole that says it is alright to jail, torture and abuse OTHER people's children.

The kids are a SYMBOL -- and I believe that people are picking on the symbolism of a kid acting badly -- very badly in front on the world.

Roberts is a partisan HACK -- his wife is profiting off of the Iraq war. They are examples of the evil GOPigs -- Roberts is part of the Bush Crime Family -- the helped steal the 2000 election for bush -- and bushie is rewarding this creep's helpfulness.

So what was the real reason for Robert's and wifie to acquire a pair of kids? To be able to present the "nice family" photo opt -- when he got his pay off for helping bushie steal the election. Now what was this creep doing during the 2004 election??

In the Robert's efforts to show case a nice white white family -- they instead gave us a glimpse into the dark side of their family -- because the kid's behavior is a SYMPTOM.

Without knowing it I'll bet that many DUers have picked on on the fact that the kid's behavior is a RED FLAG warning -- that something isn't right in THAT family.

That kid is a text book example used in Adlerian Family type counseling -- the kid is giving a very classic example of AGM -- "Attention Getting Mechanism" -- which tells family therapists -- look at the parent's relationship.

Therefore -- discuss the kid's bad behavior -- but focus on the parents -- there is SOMETHING WRONG in that family.

If these two people bring their untrained kids to a public event -- then the kid's poor behavior is up for discussion.

To HELL with -- leave the kids out of it -- we are at war -- a whole lot of people's children are DYING -- and will die in bushie's wars. Bushie has declared war on ALL children of the world -- and all the future children.

These two brats are nothing but symbols of the evil self centered warped world that bushie and his kind live in -- while they see everyone else in the world as nothing more than tools to make themselves richer and more powerful.

[tx_dem41]

28. Yes...its a symptom of him being 3-4 yr old and being in a highly ...

unusual and stimulating environment.

Its incredible how posts from this board and other boards can sound exactly the same at times. Just change the names and the parties.

[gkhouston]

29. have mercy, it's nothing more than a symptom of a 4-year-old

still awake at 9pm at night. By that age, you're lucky if you can get them to nap, so by 9pm, which is probably past his usual bedtime, he's either gonna be skittering around like a roach that's just been squirted with Raid or he's gonna be crying. I'm a little surprised she didn't pick him up to keep him quiet but she might have thought he'd protest. Although the dancing was distracting, it was off-camera and virtually silent; an outraged 4-year-old is not.

As you've probably guessed, I've got a 4-year-old right now. ;-)

[DELUSIONAL]

30. WRONG

the kid tried to bite her -- to Adlerian family counselors -- THAT is a warning sign.

AGM AGM AGM AGM AMG

Get yourself and your kid OUT of the picture -- I really don't care if you or ANYONE has a four year old.

Take a closer look at the Robert's family unit -- at the mother (Iraq war profiteer) and the father (bush family enabler).

[tx_dem41]

32. Love your DU screen name.

;)

[gkhouston]

33. I didn't see the child try to bite her

shouting at me over this is not appropriate. I suggest you seek some counseling of your own.

[DanCa]

14. I didn't like those photos of kerry daughters going around

or when they picked on edwards kids. I agree with smartvoter. If you want to street fight save it for adults. For kids lets use the marcus de queensberry rules.

[FreedomAngel82]

25. With those pics

were they at a very important event for the president or was it a rally or something with the campaign? This is a very important event. The mother should've took his hand and told him to calm down until after it was over. My parents would've never let my brother and I act this way. I have a younger cousin who is a bit wild and his parents are deaf and they control him easily and he listen's to them. This is at a big event not a campaign rally.

[realms]

26. Fair game

That was my point. Being in the presence of the president of the United States of America means minding your manners. To think children do not learn their behavior form their parents is naive. Repulicans are like that- waaa waaaa untill they get their own way.

[rinsd]

He's 4....

..and if you saw TDS's clip on this his mother did get ahold of him and then walked to a side hallway.

I am sure if the kid had stood at attention people would have been ripping that as an example that he is a fundie robot.

[tx_dem41]

37. Aw c'mon....no we wouldn't, Rinsd.

Don't be silly. ;)

[sandnsea]

39. That's good to know

If true, then I take back everything I said. My impression, looking at the still shots, was that she just stood there like a bump.

And I agree with you on the "attention" thing, it's true there is always somebody ready to pounce at any little thing.

[rinsd]

41. Check the replay of TDS if you can...

...in addition to that little clip you will see a hilarious bit where Jon supposes the reason Bush is always so distracted at these press conferences/speeches is that he just can't keep his eyes off the little guy and they have a bunch of photos superimposed with his image in various stages of dance at the debates, the State of the Union, the UN speech etc.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

44. I posted the video here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4155676&mesg_id=4158555

[rinsd]

47. Thanks (nt)

[MrBenchley]

15. Jeeze, were the kids handcuffed & tossed in jail?

Oh, wait, Judge Frenchfry is all for THAT...

[dogday]

17. Kids are off limits

I made a comment about remembering the saddle oxfords the little boy was wearing. Reminded me of Buster Browns. I hope that would not sound like a slam, it was more of a memory for me....

[tx_dem41]

18. Hear, hear. I'm tired of being told that Democrats should be like...

Republicans. Why don't those people just make it easy on themselves and switch loyalties to the party that they love to worship? Jealousy is sooo ugly.

[The_Mule]

20. If...

If the best argument against Roberts is that his kids are "bratty" or that he and his wife are bad parents, or that they are hypocritical in the way they raise their kids, then we will rightfully lose the argument.

I know, someone will say that this isn't our "best" argument, and we're just discussing something on a message board. That's fair, but how someone raises their kids or how someone's kids act is very personal territory and should not in any way be involved in our critique of Bush's SC nominee - in fact, in my opinion it is always off-limits to critique. We surely can find plenty of other ammunition to use against Roberts.

[sandnsea]

23. It's NOT the argument

Anybody trying to make it a real argument against this guy is goofy. It's a simple observation, another set of GOP hypocrites who's philosophy is do as I say, not as I do. That's all.

[rinsd]

34. Okay how is Roberts being hypocritical?

If he's anti-abortion, can we prove he had a girlfriend or his current wife had an abortion?

If its as a family man, is it the hypocrisy that he started said family late?

Has he been anti-adoption?

Where is the hypocrisy? The fact that a 4 year old did a little dance during a big press conference shows he is some kind of awful parent? Because that's a bunch of bullshit.

[sandnsea]

38. lol

Yeah, okay. The Republican party isn't full of people wanting to tell parents how to raise their kids, and lock them and their kids up at the drop of a hat. Prayer in the classroom, abstinence only, banning books. Kid skips school? Mom goes to jail. And they can't even get their own kid to behave? It isn't the kid dancing, it's that the parents just stood there like it was perfectly acceptable behavior. And it's JUST NOT. And, it wasn't a campaign stop either. Edwards' kids were not on stage doing little dances when their father was delivering his convention speech. Four year olds can be taught to behave in limited times and situations.

[VOX]

24. Agreed. n/t

[GeekMonkey]

31. so can you provide a list of ppl we CAN make fun of?

[tx_dem41]

35. If you want to make fun of a 4 yo boy. Feel free.

Its a free country, as they say. Just don't think that its going to impress anyone.

[GeekMonkey]

40. i guess you are under the false impression that i am trying to

impress anyone

i make jokes because they make me laugh

[liveoaktx]

36. I'm with Olbermann who made a Scene Stealer segment-vidclip here

Scene Stealer kids

I personally think all kids can be taught how to behave themselves in public, even at an early age, and believe that especially when someone is in the public eye, that parent has even more of an obligation to show he (or she) has mannerly and well-behaved children. If the kids are too young or don't behave, then don't bring 'em up on stage, because, at the least, even though it was Bush, it was rude to have a kid upstage the dad with distracting behavior.

I thought the same thing with Edwards kid, too.

[Enraged_Ape]

43. I thought that kid was funny and cute

even though his dad's a totally useless jerk. He can't help that. He was just being a little kid.

[formernaderite]

45. It's very immature and pathetic frankly..

I'm glad I avoided reading those threads.

[Neshanic]

48. I did yesterday, and I would do it again. Don't tell me how better I

should be. You want to be the DLC nanny? Go get a job there.

You think that whole bizzare tableau was presented to us as just happenstance? The code word about having alot of "heart" being blasted frome every MSM RW/nutcase outlet?

It was all planned. From the alleged Brooks Brothers outfits to the kid cavorting in the front of the monkey podium; it was all planned to present the most visually pleasing scene that dissolves like a sugar cube in your mouth.

The fact the kid danced around as Monkey talked, and the Ozzie and Harriet freaks looked on was done to make it look like Monkey picked a man of real values, control, and his wife doing her wifely duites on the opposite side of the podium. Why was that? Why was he on one side and she and the kids on the other? To get the most visual out of the situation. To show the wife as the child rearer, and the stong father on the other side. The kid dancing? The deal closer. It made Monkey more softer, which he has been taking hits for lately, as a strict by the books guy, and what better way to have that occur in front under his approving gaze?

Kennedy's kids cavorted in the White House and it was not staged. This little candy coated time warp to the 50's was brought to you by Cecil B Rove.

[smartvoter]

49. So, let me get this straight:

You deliberately target the kid because of who his dad is.

You don't like it when others who think it's being sleazy in the way the way the other side operates speak out about it.

You would gladly do it again because this boy is not a person, or four year old playing with toys one minute and in front of the cameras in the WH the next, he is a piece of enemy propaganda.

Or, from your POV:

"I will do what ever I want to whomever I choose and you just keep your f&&&ing mouth shut about it."

Does that about sum it up?

[sendero]

50. While I agree ,...

... with your photo-op assertions, I don't agree that we should deride the kids. I can assure you they had fuck-all to do with the whole sorry mess.

[smartvoter]

51. Same here. I think the photo op view is accurate, but the kids are just

there because they were put there by their parents.

[realms]

52. Head on a platter

Kids are so cute that they always get what they scream for. They deserve to be rewarded at all times. Pukey puke! Your children can create holy hell in your own house. I'm trying to deal with the straight truth. Why were the kids there to begin with? And what kind of father raises such a monster.

[smartvoter]

55. Monster?

He had trouble standing still in a strange environment at 4 years old. If he had stood there perfectly still, there would have been threads out here about how they must have drugged a kid that age in order to achieve that outcome.

And I don't have "monsters" of my own. I have four of them ranging from K to 10th grade and I get nothing but good reports and compliments from their teachers, their friends' parents and relatives they visit. But I don't think any of them would have been subdued in that setting -- a new, big place with tons of people and activity. Overstimulation, and kids are kids, even if we don't want their parents on the Supreme Court.

As to why he was there -- it seems clear it was a family photo op. One thing is certain. He didn't set it up. Further, as the kid became wound up in a public ceremony, his mom walked him away in private -- textbook parenting. I have no idea if she is really a good parent or not.

I strongly oppose Roberts. Why that should include attacking his four year old kid escapes me.

[cynatnite]

53. Repuke politicians' kids fair game for some here at DU

Sad that it is, but true.

[bigwillq]

54. Good point.

Thanks for the post.