Lessons from the Ann Romney -Hilary Rosen Dust-up

Has anyone else ever wondered why issues between many people are never resolved and tends to continue to fester and often time grow into larger more complicated matters?  I have and now I think I can safely say why.

What happens in most instances begin almost immediately after the first confrontation where involved parties seek shelter by running directly to their corners instead of staying put in the middle of the ring.  What I mean by this is that as soon as we are confronted with a difference of opinion or thought instead of attempting to learn as much as we can on why there is a difference, we immediately run to our corner and deem the opposition as an enemy.  We do not take the time to listen to what the other side has to say because all we hear is their non-agreements.  Case and point is the recent dust-up between Ann Romney and Hilary Rosen. 

When Hilary Rosen made her commit about Ann Romney never having worked a day in her life, everyone quickly ran to their corners to protect or defend.  No one attempted to try and understand why Ms. Rosen made such a statement in the first place.  I believe that if others would have taken a few minutes to clarify the statement, the dust-up would probably never happen.  Take for example, this possible scenario.  When Ms. Rosen made her statement she was not making it to belittle or demean Ms. Romney but was attempting to point out that it is much easier to make a decision to stay home when there is no worry about making ends meet.  That many mothers have to weigh the choice of home or work with their particular economic status and unless you have that decision to make, you cannot be seen as one who can relay those others. 

Ms. Rosen would be the first to say to Ms. Romney that being a mother is hard work but because she faces a slightly different situation in her family than Ms. Romney does, she views the entire argument in a totally different light.  We should take the time to try and get to the bottom of why she said what she said instead of immediately assuming that she was anti-Ann Romney.  It’s also doubly hard to defend the quick assassination of Ms. Rosen when you have witnessed the numerous failures and times Mr. Romney had to denounce the bills being pushed by Republican-led law houses.  To support the Personhood Amendment, the Blunt-Rubio Amendment, the Paul Ryan budget and the promise to get rid of Planned Parenthood does not show an understanding of the plight of women in this country.

The defense is that women are more concerned with the economy and jobs but if one takes just a few seconds to think about this, it will become clear that the need of contraception is about the economy and jobs.  If you cannot plan how big your family is then you have to make certain choices about what kind of job you get.  You have to consider how much they are paying, whether they will give you the time to take care of family matters and most importantly what benefits are available.  Some now say that women should have the choice of working or staying home but one has to ask why this same option is not available when it comes to women choosing what to do with their own bodies.

Bottom-line, I understand Ms. Romney’s point and I must agree with her but I also can see a possible reasoning for Ms. Rosen’s point and can agree with that as well.  Is it more important to be right than fair.  I think we can have both but before you grab your arms and prepare for battle, take a few seconds to try and understand who is supposedly are attacking you and why.  Just a thought and I could be wrong.