Throwing Grandma under the bus? A personal experience.

It really irritates me when Wing-nuts like Hannity, Coulter, et. al. accuse Obama of throwing his Grandma under the bus.  It's as if we cannot recognize the faults and weaknesses of our family without it being considered "throwing them under the bus."

By that logic, right-winger would probably accuse me of throwing my Grandma under the bus.  Here's why.  When I was in college, I was taking a class on Nazi Germany.  During one of his classes, he spoke of the role of women in Nazi Germany.  Hitler emphasized women's role as caretakers and mothers.  My professor indicated that many women actually joined organizations that spoke out against other women who chose to work outside the home.

Most students were disbelieving.  After all, how could women do such a thing.  Why would they be part of an organization that would seek to deny women the right to do something as simple as working, running for office, or the right to vote.

Unfortunately I understood all to well, so I went to my professor after class and told him the following story:

I lived in Texas during the 1990 election for Governor, and had the opportunity to vote for Ann Richards just prior to moving to Colorado, where I continued my college education. For those familiar with the election, Ann Richards ran against a Texas Millionaire named Clayton Williams, Jr.  He is infamous for saying during an impromptu discussion with reporters that "rape was like the weather. Women can't do anything about it, so they should just lay back and enjoy it."  This particular gaffe was probably enough to cost him the election (Richards won by the slim margin of 49-47%).

After the gaffe, I talked to my Grandmother (92 and a staunch Republican at the time) about the gaffe and suggested she might want to vote for Richards.    To my surprise she got really angry with me and said "that WOMAN shouldn't even be running for Governor."  Because Ann Richards is a woman and women come from the rib of Adam, they shouldn't be able to run for public office.

I was stunned, not so much by her refusal to vote Democratic, but instead horrified as to her reason why. Keep in mind that my Grandmother was long considered the grand matriarch of the family.  Family members often deferred to her and she was loved and well respected in the family.  So the idea that this incredibly strong woman would feel this way astonished me.  In fact, she lived independently up until her death at the age of 99.

The professor asked me to relate the story in class, which I did, so that other students would better understand why women might actively participate in an organization that would undermine their own economic or political interests.

That said, I did so with love in my heart for my Grandma.  She helped pay my way through my early college career.  For a time I worked as a stocker at a Grocery store near her house.  After school I would drive over to her house, where I could catch a nap before going to work.  She would usually wash my work shirt for me (Hand wash it for me!  I had probably the softest work shirt of anyone on the crew). She would also take me out to lunch on these days and insisted on always paying for my meal.  She was a very generous woman and I owe her mightily for some of the opportunities she provided me.  

Though I loved her tremendously, she was born in 1899 and was subject to the same racial and religious biases of many in my family (My Grandfather was a Methodist minister).  I had a clear understanding of what those biases were.  It helped me understand certain things about society and the forces we are influenced by.  Ultimately they helped me to be more tolerant of people with values different from mine.  I could certainly not hate my grandmother for her own religiously biased views.  She was such a positive influence in my life for so many other things, I could never disown her and if anyone suggested I was throwing my grandmother under the bus for relating such a story it would really piss me off.  

For Conservatives recognizing the weaknesses of character of anyone who has had a positive influence in your life is equivalent to throwing them under the bus.  As if pointing out the failings of our parents is equivalent to hating them.  It demonstrates a lack of introspection and recognition of our imperfections as human beings.  They fail to recognize the value of learning from those very human weaknesses.  

I can only assert that they believe this because they would throw their liberal family members under the bus for beliefs they disagree with.  Or maybe they just want to ignore the context of Obama's comments so they can make a political issue out of it.  Naaaaaaahhhhhh! They'd never do that! Would they?