1. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #136889 by chefmoz22 on March 2, 2008 at 12:19 am

to put a quote in a box, put (blockquote) and (/blockquote) outside the text you're quoting, but use <> brackets instead of ().

2. Christopher Hitchens on Real Time with Bill Maher

Comment #136888 by chefmoz22 on March 2, 2008 at 12:16 am

19. Comment #136855 by Rob3fm

He boiled the issue down to mothers being self-righteous about how their status as divine mothers or something can't be criticized, and he said something like "wow, you made a baby--something a monkey could do." I'm totally paraphrasing off the top of my head. Anyway, it really pissed me off, as he totally missed the point of what it can be like to have babies and really want to occasionally go out and feel like a normal human participant in society while caring for a newborn--which can be really stressful

I have to disagree with you on this Rob3fm. Yes, Bill did say something similar to what you described, except instead of monkeys, he said dog. Bill isn't a misogynist. That's a gross misuse of that word. Just because you disagree with someone of the opposite sex, doesn't mean you hate that gender.

In any case, child-free people like me (and even parents who go out of their way to get babysitters) are sick and tired of dealing with people taking their kids places they shouldn't be, i.e. restaurants, movies, shopping. We go out to relax, not deal with other peoples' personal problems. Why not get a babysitter? The answer often is, "We can't find one," or "we can't afford it." Not our problem! That's just totally inconsiderate to subject others to your children. Bill is right that there is this bogus aura of motherhood as an exalted position in this country, where you cannot even suggest that it isn't, or else you get a lot of flack for it. Unfortunately, it's got this charmed status from criticism, much like religion. I know, it's an emotional subject and using logic doesn't work on these people. It doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Do you recall what happened to the mother of two (Helen Kirwan-Taylor) who wrote the article, "Sorry, but my children bore me to death" for the DailyMail? She got a lot of vicious hate mail for that. She's a woman and mother, so what's up with that? It's apparently not even okay for her to speak out her true feelings without getting hell for it. Man, I'm glad I haven't drunk the Kool-Aid.