Yesterday was Mother’s Day. John Oliver ended his piece with a rather amusing skit that shows the irony of how our society treats mothers inasmuch as we profess our thanks to them. His buildup to the skit pretty much shows the level of delusion within many that continue to elect politicians who choose business interests over the interest of those we profess to love and support dearly, mothers. The text of the skit is at the end of the post.
Yesterday I wrote that according to the Save The Children Mother’s Index, America is ranked 33rd for the best place to be a mother. ‘Socialist’ Norway is ranked number 1. While many politicians continue to tout family values, it is evident enough do not value families by passing legislation to support mothers and families.
John Oliver points out that the only two countries in the world that do not provide paid time off for mothers are the United States of America and Papua New Guinea. He showed Republican politicians based on their ideology excoriating policies to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave. They even had Republican women speaking out against the bill. The bill subsequently passed.
John Oliver then showed Minnesota politicians with videos professing their love for mothers on Mother’s Day. These were the same politicians that all voted against the extension of unpaid maternity leave in the state.
“You can’t have it both ways,” said John Oliver. “You can’t go on and on about how much you love mothers and then fail to support legislation that makes life easier for them.” Oliver followed with a clip that he said is the only thing we should be allowed to say about mothers on Mother’s Day until the country changes its policies. Prescient.
Text of John Oliver’s Happy Mother’s Day skit
Mothers, we owe everything to them. They gave birth to us. They nurtured us. They made u who we are. And this Mother’s Day we just have one thing to say to all the mothers out there. Get to f$ck back to work. Seriously, get back to work now. Because unless you can personally afford to take the time off you want we are going to need you to get your exhausted ass to work and show us that can do attitude that moms are famous for. We do anything for our moms. Up to but not including paying to stay home for while after pushing a human being out of their body. But we do want to say thank you. And what better way to thank us for thanking you than maybe turning up on time once in a while. We appreciate you moms. That is why we are happy to allow you to bring that weird doughnut cushion to work so long as you promise not to tell us what it is for. And if you need a place to pump breast milk, well no problem. Either use the break room or even better, why not get some fresh air. You will be more comfortable out there. It will be like a picnic. And moms, you love picnics. The important thing is that you come back to work when you are ready. Or when you are not ready. Or even when your placenta is still technically inside you. Oopsy, cleanup on aisle seven. Look at you super mom taking care of everyone. Because remember not only can you balance work and family. You have to. And that’s why this Mother’s Day we know you will be grateful moms because you understand that even though 183 other countries do more for you we do as much as we feel we can right now. What we are saying is you deserve the very best moms. You are just not going to get it. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.
Until Americans stop allowing themselves to be played by politicians that tell them niceties even as they support policies that hurt them, nothing will change. We must educate ourselves and make educated votes, votes that support middle-class interests.
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