There's Parties..and then there's Parties

How do you raise a child of divorce when Dad is a Republican and Mom is an Independent turned Democrat? Truthfully, I have lived an ignorant life when it comes to politics (educated through the headlines and scandals). This year I feel more compelled than ever to 'get educated.' Can our country really be spending $10 billion/month on a war over...what is it over? I thought weapons of mass destruction and now, it's to spread democracy. And there's always the 9/11 reference - which from what I can tell - has next to nothing to do with it. Isn't Osama somewhere in Afghanistan? Why are we in Iraq? (Ahhh, I digress)

Okay - back to the original question...let me provide some context. My daughter came home from a weekend with her Dad and asked me if I *believe* in global warming. Um...believe? Like do I believe in the tooth fairy? Global warming is a fact. The real question is what do I believe is causing it. Before I could answer, I asked her, 'do you believe in it?' And she said, 'NO, it's just normal climate change.' That was it for me. That was the last day that I could, in good conscious, continue to be educated by the headlines. I need to wade through the bullsh*t (aka Fox news) and help my daughter to learn how to learn in a world where anyone can publish anything and make it look like 'the news' or factual reporting.

My daughter is 11 years old. She doesn't have to share the same political leanings as I do (or her Dad, for that matter). But she deserves the ability to come to informed conclusions based on factual information. How do we help our children (hell, how do we educate the American public) to discriminate between fact and spin in today's world?

I often wonder what will be written in history books about this time in U.S. history.