Last week, two male commissioners in Frederick County, Maryland, advised mothers whose children are in Head Start programs to stay married and not work outside the home. The women of Frederick County were understandably underwhelmed by these men telling them what was best not just for their children but for themselves.
Commissioners C. Paul Smith and Kirby Delauter seemed to think that just because their wives were able to stay home and raise their respective broods (Smith has 12 children; Delauter, four), that everyone should be willing and able to do the same. Ah yes, a classic case of "well I could do it, so why can't you?"
To be fair (although they weren't), Smith did pay lip service to the idea that maybe, just maybe, not everyone is able to follow in his empathy-free footsteps. His solution? Strengthen marriage.
So ... to strengthen marriage, take away a successful program that supports families and children by ensuring that kids receive educational, nutritional, and health services, among others. Yeah, I don't quite see the connection there.
No, this just seems like another attempt by lawmakers to natter on about balancing the budget by cutting services to the most vulnerable populations. And Smith and Delauter's attempts to soften the blow of their ass-backwardness by spewing platitudes about marriage and motherhood just make the act that much worse.
Because the shittiest part of all this is, Smith and Delauter prevailed. In a 4-1 vote, the commissioners voted to eliminate the county funding of Head Start.
So ... who wants to tell the nearly 300 children that just lost their program not to worry since, in Smith's words, this is the best way to help them?
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