Hi all. I’ve not seen this posted before.
Rebekah Erler, the Minnesota woman The Prez spotlighted in the SOTU is getting beaten up from the Rush and the right. Not as bad as Sandra Fluke, so Rush just may have learned a little bit from that experience. (I won’t link to Rush, find it yoursef if you feel so inclined).
See the Minneapolis Star Tribune article “Twin Cities couple highlighted in Obama's speech find spotlight can be harsh”, and hundreds of comments here:
http://www.startribune.com/...
“Talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh called Erler a “Democratic campaign operative,” and a “fake.” On Thursday, she scrolled through dozens of Facebook and Twitter messages from strangers repeating those charges, telling her she should be ashamed of herself....
Between the two of us looking at our phones, all we’re seeing is that she’s a political operative and a person that is not real, as if our life is somehow made up just to participate in this thing,” Ben Erler said…”
For Chrisssake, she was essentially a paid intern eleven years ago in her first job out of college knocking on doors for Patty Murray’s Senate campaign. With a degree in political science!!!! Who would have thought someone with a PolySci degree would work for a spell in….. Politics! OPERATIVE!!!!
Rebekah does have a sense of humor, though…
“I was, like, basically a paid intern for five months, 11 years ago,” Erler said. “The idea that I was some sort of political operative is like calling the mail sorter at Microsoft a chief strategic officer. I mean it’s ridiculous.”
It is heartening to see so much support for the Erlers in Strib comments, but this knee-jerk reflexive attack they are under is sad, yet predictable.
There are very many nice and well “liked” comments, though. Here’s a supportive one from furside on the Strib website, “Tonights board gives me hope. Mostly positive, supportive responses for the Erlers and shaming of the trolls. Hopefully we can flip this disgusting, hate-filled aberration in a couple of years.” (Referring to Rush, I believe)
The negative comments are very predictable. Get your education and good job before you have kids, pull yourself up, no one gave me anything, I don't want to support you with my tax dolllars, socialism, nanny state, "why did she write the President", stage props, new give-aways, reduce the barriers to competition, sacrifice, community divider, OBAMACARE, capitalism and the constitution, and of course, the perennial favorite, "Obama is the most corrupt, incompetent, and criminal President in our history."
Theirs is a great story... Good kids, mean well, try hard, persevere, have setbacks, briefly hit the safety net there for us all, and they get back on their feet. What is there to hate about that?